Some senators have expressed their desire to slightly increase the budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) for 2025, Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri said Thursday.
“We have several colleagues that have already said that they want to increase the budget allocation,” Zubiri said during the Kapihan sa Senado, citing the senators’ discussions at the Senate lounge.
”Yung appetite ng ibang senador is dagdagan pa nang kaunti,” he added.
(The appetite of some senators is that they are willing to raise it a little bit.)
Zubiri, however, said it was “too premature” to say what could happen.
“In fairness, dito nag attend po siya. And she answered questions raised by some of our senators. She was very engaging with the senators, so walang problema,” he said.
(In fairness, she attended [the Senate briefing]. She answered questions raised by some of our senators. She was very engaging with the senators, so there’s no problem.)
The House of Representatives on Wednesday reduced the proposed budget of the OVP to P733 million from P2 billion after Vice President Sara Duterte’s refusal to answer questions regarding the budget, including the office’s use of confidential funds.
Last week, Duterte faced a House committee hearing on the findings of the Commission on Audit (COA) and other issues regarding the use of her office’s budget, where she categorically denied misuse of public funds.
A bicameral conference of several senators and congressmen will settle any differences in the amounts to be allocated to the OVP. —VBL, GMA Integrated News
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