VP Sara defers 2025 OVP budget plenary debates to House

Vice President Sara Duterte has deferred entirely to the discretion of the House of Representatives the plenary deliberations on the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) proposed 2025 budget scheduled on Monday.

READ: VP Sara Duterte’s letter addressed to Rep. Zia Adiong—the sponsor of the Office of the Vice President’s proposed 2025 budget—saying that the OVP will leave its budget deliberation in the plenary “entirely to the pleasure” of the House of Representatives. @gmanewsbreaking pic.twitter.com/IPlLAcf8Z8

— Giselle Ombay (@giselleombay_) September 23, 2024

In a letter addressed to Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Adiong, the designated sponsor of the OVP's proposed P2 billion budget for 2025 in the House plenary, Duterte said the OVP has duly submitted all the required documents to the House Committee on Appropriations regarding its budget request.  

She said that this was communicated to Speaker Martin Romualdez and panel chairperson and Ako Bicol party-list Representative Zaldy Co.

“In consideration of the foregoing, the OVP leaves the deliberation of our budget proposal in the plenary entirely to the pleasure of the House of Representatives,” Duterte wrote.

The Vice President’s letter was dated September 11, and was received on September 16.

The House of Representatives is currently on its second week of plenary deliberations on the proposed P6.352-trillion national budget for fiscal year 2025. It is set to approve the proposed budget on third and final reading on Wednesday, September 25, according to Romualdez.

Scheduled to be deliberated in the House plenary on Monday are the proposed budget of the OVP, along with other agencies including the Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, National Security Council, and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

GMA News Online sought clarification from the OVP if Duterte will not be attending the House’s plenary debates, but it has yet to respond as of posting time. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News