With talks of a possible budget cut for the Office of the Vice President (OVP) for fiscal year 2026, netizens and observers cannot help but recall the time when former Vice President Leni Robredo was able to effectively carry out her mandate despite a small allocation.
So how did Robredo, who was in OVP from 2016 to 2022, steer her office and even attract private sector engagement through those tumultuous years?
Integrity and credibility may be a factor, Deputy Majority Leader and Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said on Friday.
‘During the time of former Vice President Leni Robredo, she was resourceful (with the budget). I think it also goes with the integrity and credibility of the person right?’ Adiong said, when discussing with reporters the possible budget cut on the current OVP, under Vice President Sara Duterte.
‘Vice President Leni Robredo (maximized that) because the trust rating of some of the NGOs (non government organizations) and CSOs (civil society organizations) and private sectors are so high to a point that they are willing to co-operate and assist the office, so that the plans and programs of her office before as vice president will be implemented properly,’ he added.
OVP’s budget under Robredo – which was crafted during the time of Duterte’s father, former president Rodrigo Duterte – suffered several cuts, with National Expenditures Program (NEP) versions not breaching the P1 billion mark.
According to the Department of Budget and Management’s Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing for fiscal year 2023, OVP in 2021 proposed a budget of P945.4 million for Robredo’s last year in office. It was then slashed down to P713.4 million under the 2022 NEP – prompting lawmakers to ask that it be increased to at least P1 billion.
Fulfilling mandate
Robredo, several times while she was vice president, noted that a low budget would not hinder her office from fulfilling its mandate.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Robredo and OVP partnered with the private sector to deliver key services – like free bus rides for frontline workers, hot meals, quarantine facilities, mobile testing centers, and a telemedicine platform, which became an important part of triage.
In contrast, Duterte’s OVP received P2.305 billion in 2023 under the NEP – an amount which several lawmakers noted has never been given to Robredo.
In 2024, during discussions for the 2025 budget, OVP was originally allocated a P2.037 billion budget, but lawmakers from the House decided to cut this down to just P733 million due to Duterte’s behavior at hearings – skipping discussions and refusing to answer lawmakers’ questions directly – and revelations that some of its programs suffered from low budget utilization.
While Duterte showed up at the committee hearing on the OVP’s proposed budget, the Vice President and her officials skipped plenary debates. On Thursday, no OVP official appeared to assist budget sponsor and Palawan 2nd District Rep. Jose Alvarez, prompting lawmakers from the Minority bloc to call for the cut on the OVP’s proposed allocation.
House rules call for the head of agency or an undersecretary-level official to be present and assist the budget sponsor.
Instead of showing up, Duterte said she will appear only if President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself appears to defend the Office of the President budget, or if lookout bulletins issued against several OVP staffers are lifted.
Retain P700-M allocation
OVP is asking for a P902.8 million budget under the 2026 NEP – slightly larger than the P744.1 million given in 2025. However, if it were up to Adiong, the P700-plus million allocation for 2025 should be retained after Duterte skipped plenary debates again.
‘I think it’s an open-ended discussion, because first of all, her non-attendance actually brought out many sentiments from the members as to why she can’t, up to now, show up at the plenary. So naturally, talagang the issue on the reduction of our budget with definite results,’ Adiong said.
‘So the budget that we had approved is P700 (million), if I’m not mistaken, P700 million. The proposal now is P900 (million). But the proposal, the one that we had approved is I guess 700 million. So I would go with 700 million,’ he added.
According to Adiong – who was the OVP’s budget sponsor in 2024 – Duterte could have defended the increase in their budget if she or an undersecretary just showed up.
‘I believe the increase of P200 million would (be) on the consultancy piece, at saka ‘yong mga additional supplies. So sayang nga lang kasi hindi siya pumunta, you could have at least defended that and explained to the plenary and convinced the members why she needed that P200 (million plus increase. Unfortunately, no explanation at all. That’s why, sa amin, my working draft would still be on the P700 (million),’ he added.
This P700 million will still be higher than ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio’s proposal to significantly reduce OVP’s budget from P902 million to just P198 million.