The Senate has accepted the House of Representatives’ decision to cut P1.3 billion from the 2025 budget allocation for the Office of the Vice President (OVP), as the chamber begins formal deliberations on the proposed P6.352-trillion national budget.
A 14-page report from the Senate finance committee, available on its website, confirmed that senators maintained the House’s proposed allocation of P733.198 million for the OVP, down from the original request of P2.037 billion. Meanwhile, the Office of the President’s proposed P10.446-billion budget remained unchanged.
In a brief interview with Senate reporters, Sen. Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate finance committee, acknowledged the Senate’s adoption of the House’s budget cut for the OVP.
“Yes, the Senate adopted the House version of the OVP budget cut. We reached out several times to the Office of the Vice President, requesting they submit documents to clarify issues regarding their budget, but they have not submitted them as of today. So we decided to retain the GAB (General Appropriations Bill) amount pending submission and review of these documents,” she explained.
Poe also noted adjustments to budgets in other departments: “While we cannot account for movements in the figures on an apples-to-apples basis, we can say that we retained the original budget for the relevant item in DSWD while we increased further the item under the DOH budget,” she said, referring to the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Health.
The proposed 2025 budget places a strong emphasis on social services, healthcare, education, employment, technology, infrastructure, and human development. Poe stressed the importance of accountability in budget allocations.
“This budget isn’t just a series of numbers. It’s a blueprint of our priorities, the most important investment of our government and the heartbeat of our nation’s future,” Poe said in her endorsement of the GAB, which details the P6.352-trillion budget proposal.
“Under this Senate committee report, every peso has been accounted for. With each line item, we asked all agencies, ‘What do we want to happen here?’ Accountability is not just a choice; it is our duty,” she emphasized.
Additionally, the Senate has commenced discussions on budget allocations for individual departments within the executive branch.
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