MANILA, Philippines 鈥� ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. France Castro has recommended further reducing the 2025 budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) to P529.59 million from the earlier proposed slashed allotment worth P733.198 million.
Castro bared her suggestion to Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, who was assigned to defend the OVP budget during Wednesday鈥檚 2025 General Appropriations Bill plenary deliberations.
鈥淎ng pino-propose ko na budget sa OVP ay P529,593,700 [鈥 Ito po ay unprecedented yung nangyari dito sa panahon na ito ng budget, wala pong nangyaring ganito sa history ng House of Representatives, wala ding ganyan katulad ng vice president sa history ng Pilipinas,鈥� the Makabayan lawmaker said.
(The budget I am proposing for the OVP is P529,593,700 [鈥 What is happening now with this budget is unprecedented; nothing like this has ever happened in the history of the House of Representatives, and there has never been a vice president like this in the history of the Philippines.)
READ: OVP budget cut from P2 billion to P733 million by House panel
Under her proposal, Castro recommended cutting the allotment for maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) by 70 percent.
鈥淪a aking panukala, wala namang justification sa budget ng OVP, retain ang personnel services dahil alam naman po natin sa ating mga empleyado sa gobyerno, mahalaga 鈥榶ung trabaho P177 million, tama lang na tanggalin natin yung programs and projects dahil ito ay redundant at dinodoble lang nito ang iba pang ahensya,鈥� she said.
(In my proposal, we should retain the personnel services because we know that the work is important, amounting to P177 million. It鈥檚 only right to eliminate the programs and projects because they are redundant and duplicate those of other agencies.)
鈥淏awasan ko lang po konti yung capital outlay, babawasan ko na rin po in due time for my amendments 鈥榶ung MOOE dahil bagsak siya sa pag-uugali, bagsak siya sa kanyang pangako sa ating taong bayan na gagawin niya ang kanyang tungkulin. Bilang teacher babawasan ko ng 70 percent cut ang budget niya sa MOOE,鈥澛� Castro added.
(I will also reduce the capital outlay by a little. I will also reduce the MOOE in due time for my amendments. She failed because of her attitude, she also failed to fulfill her promise and duty to our people. I will cut the MOOE budget by 70 percent.)
Earlier, the lower chamber鈥檚 committee on appropriations recommended slashing the proposed 2025 OVP budget of P2.037 billion to only P733.198 million.
Panel senior vice chairperson and Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo said the cut would mainly affect the social service programs of the OVP which lawmakers intend to realign to programs of other government agencies like the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Department of Health (DOH).
Of the P1.29 billion cut, Quimbo disclosed that the panel recommended allocating P646,532,796 to DSWD鈥檚 Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation, while the other P646,533,796 to DOH鈥檚 Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients.
The House of Representatives is scheduled to pass the 2025 General Appropriations Bill on the third and final reading on Wednesday night.