MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Vice President (OVP) will be getting a budget cut in its programs and services amounting to nearly P1.3 billion, according to Marikina Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo, appropriations committee senior vice chairman at the House of Representatives.
In a press conference on Thursday, Quimbo said that the executive committee of the panel approved the removal of P1.293 billion from the OVP’s P2.026 billion budget, of which, P947 million were allocated for financial assistance and P48.3 million for rent and lease expenses.
The funds will be transferred to the Department of Health under its Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) and the Assistance to Individuals to Crisis Situations (AICS) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
However, despite the budget cut, Quimbo said that there could still be amendments during plenary deliberations at the House and the Senate, as well as via line-item veto by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself.
“Ito po ay recommendation pa lang po ito ng Committee on Appropriations sa plenary (This is still a recommendation to the Committee on Appropriations to the Plenary),” Quimbo said.
The House is set to hold plenary debates on the 2025 Budget beginning September 16.
