OVP: No funds to implement medical, burial aid program in 2025

The Office of the Vice President (OVP) is expected to discontinue giving medical and burial assistance this year as no budget was approved for the program under the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

From January to December 2024, the program had provided over P822 million worth of financial assistance to a total of 187,028 beneficiaries.

“Since there's no line item under 2025 General Appropriations Act for Financial Assistance / Subsidy, the Office of the Vice President has no fund to implement the medical and burial assistance program,” the OVP told reporters.

The office of Vice President Sara Duterte also issued an apology “for the inconvenience.”

President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. on December 30, 2024 signed into law the P6.326-trillion national budget for fiscal year 2025.

He, however, directly vetoed over P194 billion worth of line items that are not consistent with his administration's priorities.

Under the 2025 GAA, the OVP was allocated a P733.1-million budget, a big cut from the originally proposed P2-billion budget.

This came after the House decided to reduce the OVP’s budget for 2025 amid Duterte's refusal to answer lawmakers’ questions on her office’s budget use, including confidential funds.

The Senate also retained the House-introduced budget cut despite calls from Duterte's allies to restore some of OVP's proposed funding for social services.

Duterte had said that some projects of the OVP, specifically the free bus rides and financial assistance provided in its satellite offices, may be affected with the proposed cuts in the OVP’s 2025 budget.

She also said that OVP’s satellite offices would continue to function until December 31, 2024, but stressed that she was unsure how the operations will change come 2025.

Duterte also said that around 200 OVP personnel could lose their jobs considering the budget cuts. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News