• CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
The operations of the 10 satellite offices of the Office of the Vice President (OVP), as well as its libre sakay program, may likely be affected should there be a cut in its 2025 budget.
Vice President Sara Duterte said that their satellite office in Bacolod City has provided medical assistance to 45,200 beneficiaries and burial assistance to 3,842 since January 1. Thousands have also benefited from their libre sakay program.
They have four buses in NCR, one in Cebu, one in Davao and one in Bacolod. If there will be a budget cut, they will make adjustments. When she was mayor of Davao City she was used to making adjustments, since they have a limited budget to ensure that they will have projects, she said.
Duterte said that when they examined the line items in the OVP budget in the General Appropriations Bill, they saw that all their contractual employees may lose their jobs.
In October this year, the House Appropriations Committee slashed the OVP budget by 1.3 billion, reallocating the funds to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and the Department of Health (DOH).
The Committee also plans to cut the 2025 OVP budget from P2.037 billion to P733.198 million, citing overlapping functions.*
