Sara Duterte’s 2026 P903-M finances will get swift Senate panel approval

‘The finances of the Vice President is already a lean and imply finances. Wala na pong dagdag. Kawawa na nga po Mr. President,’ says Senate Majority Chief Migz Zubiri

MANILA, Philippines – In lower than an hour, the Senate finance committee on Monday, September 29, swiftly authorized the P903 million proposed 2026 finances of the Workplace of the Vice President.

The senators current — largely from the minority bloc and allies of Vice President Sara Duterte — raised no questions and as an alternative expressed help for her finances, which got here below congressional scrutiny in 2025 over alleged misuse of confidential funds. The identical situation was additionally among the many expenses included in Duterte’s archived impeachment trial.

For 2026, the OVP is looking for a P902.8-million finances, a 20% enhance from its P744-million allocation in 2025.

It’s essential to notice, nonetheless, that the OVP’s authentic proposal was solely P733 million for 2026. It was the Division of Price range and Administration (DBM) that elevated it to P902.8 million.

It was solely Senator Erwin Tulfo who requested the OVP questions, however his queries weren’t about how the workplace spent the 2025 finances, however extra on calling for the return of the P39-million slashed funding.

“My query now’s, I seen that from P942 million, binawasan po ito ng ini-slash ng P902.8 million, nawala yung P39.143 million. Ang tanong ko po ngayon, Mr. Chair, ano po mga proyekto o programa na maapektuhan po nito, ito pong slash po ng P39.143 million, Mr. Chair?” Tulfo requested.

(My query now’s, I seen that from P942 million, it was slashed by P39.143 million to P902.8 million. My query, Mr. Chair, is: what initiatives or applications shall be affected by this P39.143-million minimize, Mr. Chair?)

Rosalynne Sanchez, director for administrative and monetary providers on the OVP, stated the finances minimize would have an effect on the workplace’s info and communications know-how (ICT) gear.

“The quantity that was not thought-about by the DBM solely pertains to ICT gear. So out of our authentic request, solely a portion of that was included within the NEP (Nationwide Expenditure Program). So we’ll simply reprioritize the ICT gear that we’ll procure and we’ll work throughout the finances that was supplied within the NEP,” Sanchez stated.

After Tulfo’s query, Senate Majority Chief Migz Zubiri manifested to grant the OVP parliamentary courtesy and waive questions from the chamber.

“The finances of the Vice President is already a lean and imply finances. Wala na pong dagdag. Kawawa na nga po Mr. President (There’s nothing extra added. They’re already at a drawback, Mr. President). Possibly we will afford them courtesy and we will approve the finances after the manifestations,” Zubiri stated.

In the course of the 2025 finances briefing final 12 months, the Vice President traded barbs with Senator Risa Hontiveros as she accused the senator of “politicizing” the proceedings.

Hontiveros was not current in Monday’s finances listening to.

– Rappler.com