Latest news with #House-introduced
GMA Network
2 days ago
- Business
- GMA Network
Sara Duterte sees cuts in proposed P903-million OVP budget
"Hindi naman nagbago ang administration eh. 'Yan pa rin ang Pangulo natin, 'yan pa rin ang Speaker of the House of Representatives natin. So wala na tayong ma-expect na ibibigay para sa Office of the Vice President,' Duterte said in an ambush interview. Vice President Sara Duterte said that she expected the proposed P903 million budget of the Office of the Vice President for 2026 to be reduced when the General Appropriations Act is passed. "Hindi naman nagbago ang administration eh. 'Yan pa rin ang Pangulo natin, 'yan pa rin ang Speaker of the House of Representatives natin. So wala na tayong ma-expect na ibibigay para sa Office of the Vice President,' Duterte said in an ambush interview. (The administration has not changed. He is still our President, and he is still the Speaker of the House of Representatives. So we don't expect anything to be given to the Office of the Vice President.) 'So kung ano 'yung in-approve ng Department of Budget and Management, 'yun din 'yung submit namin, 'yan din 'yung nilagay sa NEP (National Expenditure Program). And of course ang expectation natin is bababaan 'yan pagdating sa House of Representatives,' she added. (Whatever the Department of Budget and Management approved, it's what we submitted and placed in the NEP. We expect that it will be reduced when it goes through the House of Representatives.) GMA News Online sought a comment from Nueva Ecija Rep. Mikaela Suansing, who is the chairperson of the House Committee on Appropriations, and will update this story once she responds. To recall, the House last year decided to reduce the budget of the OVP from the originally proposed P2 billion to P733 million amid Duterte's refusal to answer lawmakers' questions on OVP budget use, including confidential funds. The Senate retained the House-introduced budget cut despite calls from Duterte's allies to restore some of the OVP's proposed funding for social services. For 2026, OVP spokesperson Ruth Castelo stated that the proposed budget of the OVP has increased by P170 million from the current fiscal year, from P733 million to P903 million. Castelo also confirmed that the OVP would not request confidential funds for next year. Duterte was also asked regarding the supposed 'habitual absence." 'Habitual absence saan? hindi ko alam yung pinagssabi nila na habitual absence (I don't know what they're talking about),' Duterte said. 'As I said, ito na naman yung style ng mga tao na anti-Duterte na nagbibigay lang ng akusasyon kung saan saan at walang naman basehan, walang ebidensya at hindi nila nalang sinasubmit o tinataas sa tamanag forum o sa tamang venue yung kanilang mga akusasyon,' she added. (As I said, it's the style of those who are anti-Duterte. They just throw around accusations without any basis or evidence. They should just submit or raise it in the proper forum or venue.) The Vice President made the remark after House Deputy Minority Leader Antonio Tinio of ACT Teachers and House Assistant Minority Leader Renee Co of Kabataan party-list earlier said Duterte should show evidence that her office did not engage in misuse of public funds by showing up in person and answering during the upcoming budget deliberations in Congress. Reacting to Tinio's statement about her constant travels, Duterte challenged the House of Representatives to release their travel plans. 'Ilabas din siguro nila yung travels ng mga members of the House of Representatives bago sila magtuturo ng mga tao na constant travel. And sa totoo lang, hindi naman ako nag-travel dahil gusto ko mag-travel,' Duterte said. (They should release the travel of the members of the House of Representatives before pointing out others. In truth, I travel not because I want to.) 'Lumalabas ako ng bansa dahil frustrated na ang Filipino communities abroad sa nangyayari dito sa ating bayan. At pangalawa, bumibisita ako sa tatay ko na nakakulong,' she added. (I go outside the country because Filipino communities abroad are frustrated with what's happening in our country. Second, I'm visiting my detained father.) Former president Rodrigo Duterte is currently detained at the International Criminal Court detention facility in The Hague for his alleged crimes against humanity in connection with the killings under his administration's war on drugs. Answering in the right forum Following the archiving of the impeachment case against her, Duterte said she would explain her side in the alleged misuse of public funds in her office at the 'right forum.' 'Kung may kaso sa tamang forum, mag e-explain kami. Nagsabi kami nung nag-file sila ng Article of Impeachment nila na ready ang defense team para sumagot sa accusations ng prosecutors ng House. Noong umakyat sa Supreme Court yung kaso, lahat ng hiningi ng Supreme Court ay binigay namin,' the Vice President said. (If there's a case filed in the proper forum, we will explain. We already said, when they filed the Articles of Impeachment, that the defense team is ready to respond to the accusations from the House prosecutors. When the case was brought to the Supreme Court, we complied with everything it asked for.) 'Dun sa mga tamang venue at forum, nagbibigay kami ng saktong sagot at nagbibigay kami ng explanation ng mga accusations pero hindi pwede na moro-moro, na kung san lang nagbibigay ng acussaion at kung kelan lang nila gusto nila mag akusa ng tao,' she added. (In the proper venue and forum, we give clear answers and explain the accusations. But it's unacceptable to throw accusations whenever they want.) The Senate on Aug. 6 voted to transfer to the archives the articles of impeachment against Duterte, following the SC's decision declaring her impeachment unconstitutional. With 19 votes for, four against, and one abstention, the Senate archived the impeachment complaint. –NB, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
04-08-2025
- Business
- GMA Network
OVP 2026 budget ‘feasible' sans confidential funds — Win Gatchalian
The proposed budget of the Office of the Vice President for fiscal year 2026 is 'feasible' as long as it has no confidential funds, Senate finance committee chairman Sherwin Gatchalian said Monday. At a press conference, Gatchalian said that he will be 'very strict' when it comes to the proposed confidential and intelligence funds under the 2026 national budget, stressing that it 'will no longer be free for all' and will only be limited to enforcement and intelligence agencies. 'From what I have seen, 'yung pinaka-contentious do'n ang confidential funds di ba? And for the 2025 budget wala na 'yun. In fact, bare bones na ang OVP budget, 'yung mga talagang kailangan nila sa kanilang operations and some projects ni Vice President,' the senator said. (From what I have seen, the confidential funds are the most contentious, right? And for the 2025 budget, the OVP no longer has that. In fact, the OVP budget is bare bones, and they only have a budget for their operations and some projects of the Vice President.) 'So, as long as wala na ang contentious items doon, which is the confidential funds, feasible naman ang budget ngayon ng OVP,' he added. (So, as long as the contentious items are gone, which is the confidential funds, the OVP budget is now feasible.) The proposed 2026 budget of the OVP, under the leadership of Vice President Sara Duterte, has increased by P170 million from the current fiscal year—-from P733 million to P903 million, according to spokesperson Ruth Castelo. Castelo also confirmed that the OVP will not be requesting any confidential funds for next year. 'No confidential funds. Hindi naman na tayo nag-request niyan [we didn't request]… If they want to give, they want to give,' she explained. Last year, the House decided to reduce the budget of the OVP from the originally proposed P2 billion to P733 million amid Duterte's refusal to answer lawmakers' questions on OVP budget use, including confidential funds. The Senate retained the House-introduced budget cut despite calls from Duterte's allies to restore some of the OVP's proposed funding for social services. 'Golden age of transparency' Further, Gatchalian said that amid the public clamor for transparency and accountability, he will push to make more budget documents—-from the National Expenditure Program until it becomes the General Appropriations Act—-available online for the public to easily access it. 'Kung ikaw ay publiko at gusto mo i-analyze ang budget, makikita mo lang ang step 1 at 'yung last step. Pero hindi ko makikita 'yung i-step by i-step…dahil kulang kulang 'yung paga-upload ng documents,' he said. (If you want to analyze the budget, you can only see step 1 and the last step. But you can't see it step by step because not all documents are being uploaded.) 'So, ire-require namin ngayon ang DBM to go one step further. Meron silang tinatawag na budget preparation form 201. Lahat ng mga requests ng mga ahensya binibigay sa DBM. Ire-request namin ngayon na i-upload rin sa website para malaman ng taumbayan kung ano ba ang nire-request ng mga agencies,' he added. (So, we will now require DBM to go one step further. They have a budget preparation form 201 which contains the budget requests of all agencies. We will now request for it to be uploaded to the website so that the people will know how much the agencies are requesting us.) Transparency and accountability. Isinusulong natin na i-upload online ang lahat ng dokumento pagdating sa 2026 national budget. — Win Gatchalian (@WinGatchalian74) August 4, 2025 The chairman of the Senate committee on finance also said that they will request the House of Representatives to upload their version of the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) on their website and send a digital format to the Senate. He said the Senate will also do the same for its own version of the bill. The reconciled version by both chambers will likewise be uploaded online so that the public can scrutinize the changes in the budget before it gets delivered to Malacañang for the President's signature. —AOL, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
16-06-2025
- Business
- GMA Network
OVP to seek P733-M budget for 2026 — Sara Duterte
Vice President Sara Duterte said Monday that the Office of the Vice President (OVP) would submit a P733 million budget proposal for fiscal year 2026, which is the same amount approved for her office this year. Duterte said that she is no longer expecting a higher budget allocation for the OVP since she is not allied with the Marcos administration. That is why, she said, she decided to propose the same amount next year, with only a few adjustments considering the inflation. 'Hindi siya kalayuan doon sa approximately P700 million na ibinigay noong nakaraang taon para sa Office of the Vice President. Hindi siya malayo sa 2025 budget,' she said at a press conference. (That is not far from the approximately P700 million given last year to the Office of the Vice President. That is not far from the 2025 budget.) 'Inaasahan ko naman na hindi ibibigay 'yung budget ng [OVP] dahil nga hindi naman kami kaalyado ng administrasyon at nakita na natin 'yun nung nakaraang taon, na syempre kung hindi ka sumusunod, hindi ka kaalyado, ay hindi ka ay hindi ka mabibigyan ng pondo para sa mga programa ng opisina mo,' she added. (I expect that a higher OVP budget will not be given because we are not an ally of the administration and we saw that last year, that if you do not follow them, you are not an ally, then you will not be given funds for the programs of your office.) Duterte also said that she does not want to see members of her office being "embarrassed" by lawmakers both from the House of Representatives and the Senate during the budget deliberations. She also said that she is still unsure whether or not she will attend the deliberations for the proposed 2026 budget of the OVP. Last year, the House decided to reduce the budget of the OVP from the originally proposed P2 billion to P733 million amid Duterte's refusal to answer lawmakers' questions on OVP budget use, including confidential funds. The Senate retained the House-introduced budget cut despite calls from Duterte's allies to restore some of OVP's proposed funding for social services. The Vice President lamented the budget cut, saying that around 200 OVP personnel could lose their jobs and some projects of her office would have to be halted. 'Wala kaming madagdag na project for 2026. Tutuloy pa rin lahat... maliban lang sa PANsarap at medical at burial assistance,' Duterte said. (We will have no additional projects for 2026. Everything will continue... except for PANSarap and medical and burial assistance.) Despite a significant P1.4 billion budget cut under the 2025 General Appropriations Act, Duterte said her office, so far this year, continued to provide service to the people. She said that the OVP's medical assistance program provided aid to 127,984 beneficiaries, while the burial assistance program had 25,495 beneficiaries. Meanwhile, over a million passengers were given free bus rides under the OVP's Libreng Sakay Program. Thousands of students and indigent Filipinos were also given help through other projects of the OVP. 'Naging mas mapaghamon ang pagpapatakbo namin ng mga programa na ang pakay ay pagbibigay ng solusyon sa ilang mga pangunahing suliranin ng mga Pilipino. Ngunit ang mga batikos at sistematikong atake laban sa OVP ay hindi naging sapat para tayo ay humina, huminto, at mabigo,' Duterte said. (It became more challenging for us to run programs that aim to provide solutions to some of the major problems of Filipinos. But the criticisms and systematic attacks against the OVP were not enough to weaken, stop, and fail us.) — RSJ, GMA Integrated News
