January 16, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Funding for the medical and burial assistance program of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) has been removed from this year’s national budget.
Over 180,000 Filipinos benefited from the program last year.
“There is no approved budget for the medical and burial assistance program of the OVP under the 2025 General Appropriations Act. We apologize for the inconvenience,” the OVP said.
The program received a P920-million budget last year, comprising about half of the P1.8 billion allocated to the OVP.
In 2023, the program had the same allocation under the P2.3-billion budget of the OVP.
Lawmakers proposed cutting the funding for the OVP’s social welfare projects as it overlapped with programs of the Department of Health and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
This left the OVP with over P733 million in total funding this year.
Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said the OVP could still implement its projects by seeking grants from the DSWD, where lawmakers pushed to realign most of the OVP’s social assistance funding.
“She can still access (funding) from the DSWD,” Pangandaman told The STAR.
The DSWD accepts all referrals from fellow state agencies and offices, Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian told The STAR.
At a recent public appearance in Japan, Vice President Sara Duterte told overseas Filipino workers that the OVP discontinued many projects to cover as many beneficiaries as possible in other aid programs.
Meanwhile, satellite offices of the OVP will continue operating despite objections from lawmakers, she noted.
State auditors had discovered that the leases of the OVP’s satellite offices cost P53 million annually or over P4 million monthly, which lawmakers said wasted taxpayers’ money.
While such amounts for rental expenses were allowed under the procurement law, the Commission on Audit said the findings require thorough inspection of the satellite offices.
Assassination plot
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla will meet with National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) director Jaime Santiago to discuss their next steps after finishing the probe into Duterte’s assassination remark against President Marcos, his wife and Speaker Martin Romualdez.
Remulla said they have yet to decide if a case will be filed.
In November 2024, Duterte disclosed her plans to have Marcos, his wife and the Speaker killed in the event of her death.
At a Monday press briefing at Malacañang, Prosecutor General Richard Fadullon said prosecutors will be sent to the NBI to evaluate evidence.
Misuse of funds
Duterte should first address her alleged misuse of public funds before “seriously considering” running for president in 2028, according to the Kabataan party-list.
“Soft launch flop! Sara Duterte thinks too much in advance,” Kabataan spokesperson Renee Co said.
“If you can’t be accountable, you can’t be a presidentiable,” she noted.
Duterte is facing three impeachment complaints over her alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds.
In an interview with “Storycon” on One News yesterday, former senator Antonio Trillanes IV said the Senate – as an impeachment court – can continue with the trial even after its composition changes following the midterm elections in May.
The House of Representatives, he said, may decide on the impeachment complaints against Duterte during the “lame duck” session after the May polls and before the end of the 19th Congress in June. – Evelyn Macairan, Jose Rodel Clapano, Janvic Mateo
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