THE Senate swiftly approved the 2025 budget for the Office of the Vice President (OVP) in less than 10 minutes on Wednesday, despite concerns over budget cuts and a lack of documentation from the OVP.
The Senate finance committee had previously adopted the House of Representatives’ decision to slash the OVP’s budget to P733 million, significantly reducing the P2 billion originally proposed in the National Expenditure Program.
Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa initially moved to immediately approve the budget, but the motion was withdrawn after Senator Bong Go expressed his desire to restore funding for the OVP’s social services.
The Senate’s decision to approve the OVP budget came after Senator Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate finance committee, stated earlier this month that the committee had repeatedly requested documentation from the OVP to clarify budget issues, but had not received any.
“We decided to retain the GAB amount pending submission and review of these documents,” Poe said.
Unlike the House of Representatives, Vice President Sara Duterte personally appeared before the Senate during the plenary deliberations of the budget.
The swift approval of the OVP budget, despite the reduced funding and outstanding documentation requests, highlights the complexities and potential political considerations surrounding the budget process.
