Senate panel approves OVP’s proposed 2027 budget

MANILA — The Senate finance subcommittee on Tuesday approved the proposed P785.2 million budget of the Office of the Vice President for 2027, citing parliamentary courtesy.

The OVP’s proposed budget for 2027 is 11 percent lower than its P889 million budget for 2026, senators noted.

Senate Finance Committee chair Sen. JV Ejercito in an interview said it was important to pass the OVP budget to allow a continuous support for its socioeconomic programs.

The OVP is “among the very few departments that have [a] lower budget from last year, considering our fiscal space,” he said.

The lower budget for 2027 is the result of the OVP’s efforts to recalibrate its programs, said OVP chief-of-staff Zuleika Lopez.

Duterte’s agency officials faced the Senate finance panel to defend their 2027 budget without her, leaving senators to urge her attendance in the plenary deliberations instead.

Lopez explained that Duterte represented her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, in the inurnment of a long-serving city planner in Davao City.

Still, senators invoked courtesy in approving her office’s budget for 2027 with minimal questions.

“Moving forward, this representation acknowledges the tradition of interparliamentary courtesy in respect to the Office of the Vice President, while also assuring the public that the fiscal year 2027 proposed expenditure is taken up with due diligence,” Ejercito said. —Report from RG Cruz, ABS-CBN News