BATASAN HILLS, Quezon City — Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte on Wednesday thanked the House of Representatives appropriations committee for swiftly terminating the hearing for the proposed P2.3 billion budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) for 2023.
“Thank you for your continued support on the programs, activities, and projects of the Office of the Vice President,” Duterte said.
Duterte personally presented her office’s proposed budget before the appropriations panel. She was also slated to present the proposed budget for the Department of Education.
But five minutes into the budget briefing, House Minority Leader and 4Ps party-list Representative Marcelino Libanan, citing tradition and courtesy to the executive, moved to terminate the deliberations on the OVP budget without any interpellation.
Committee on Appropriations chair and Ako Bicol Representative Elizaldy Co said the Office of the Vice President has been “very active within the short period regarding satellite offices which were established all over the country which enable the government to expand the range of its social services.”
“I speak for my colleagues when I say that this committee has full confidence in the Vice President’s performance of her duties,” Co added.
Duterte also offered the services of the OVP to the members of the House of Representatives.
“If there’s anything that we can do to help you as an office in your respective mandates, in your respective legislative districts and partylists, please let us know. We are open to collaboration in helping our fellow Filipinos,” she added.
The bulk of the OVP budget will go to financial subsidies and assistance to needy Filipinos.
The budget briefing was presided by Co, with key House officials such as Speaker and Leyte 1st District Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Senior Deputy Speaker and Pampanga 2nd District Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and Senior Deputy Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Ferdinand Alexander Marcos in attendance.
OVP MEDIA