OVP

Today's briefing, the briefing of the fiscal year 2027 proposed expenditure

program of the Office of the Vice President is now called to order. I would like to acknowledge the presence of our Senate President Win, and likewise Senator Imee Marcos. Thank you for attending today's hearing. I would like to ask the Committee Secretary to acknowledge the resource persons present for today.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good morning. Good morning also to our Senate President and Senator Marcos. For the briefing on the proposed FY 2027 budget of the Office of the Vice President, I would like to acknowledge our resource persons from

the OVP. We have Attorney Zuleica Lopez, Assistant Secretary Lemwel Ortono, Attorney Rosely Sanchez, Attorney Sunshine Chari Faarda, Director Norman Baloro, Attorney Emily Rose Torentira, Attorney Kelvin Jerome Pe[unclear], Miss Julieta Villed Rey, Mr. Ard Eje, and Mr. Simon Jezer Lao. We have also invited representatives from the DBM and COA. From DBM, we have Assistant Director Lulu Vispo, Miss Lorian Jaivier, Mr.

George Catalan, Mr. Edward J. Perales, and Miss Queen Valerie Macaspak. For COA, we have Mr. Fahad bin Abdul Malik Tumawis and Miss Zara Jane Tegalan. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, our Committee Secretary. Ladies, gentlemen, honorable colleagues in the Senate, guests and resource persons to the Office of the Vice President, a pleasant morning to everyone as we open today's budget hearing of the proposed 2027 budget of the OVP. We recognize the vital role of the Office of the Vice President as a platform for public

service through socioeconomic and support programs. Being the second highest executive office of the Philippine government, it shall maintain outstanding delivery of its local programs, dignified international networks and resilient sustainable solutions to the countrywide challenges. For this budget deliberation, we endeavor to efficiently utilize the fiscal resources to meet short and long-term projections, strengthen national readiness and enhance responsiveness to the needs of the

Filipino people. Moving forward, this representation acknowledges the tradition of interparliamentary courtesy in respect to the Office of the Vice President, while also assuring the public that the fiscal year 2027 proposed expenditure is taken up with due diligence. Thank you very much. So, before we proceed, I would like to ask our Senate President if he has any remarks.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, binabasa ko itong budget ng OVP and nakita ko na compared to last year, it went down by 11%.

It went down by approximately from P889 million to P785 million.

And nakita ko rin na ang kanilang main program ay yung social...

social economic program na tumutulong sa ating mga constituents.

And I saw various components of that program.

So with that, nakita ko na the Office of the Vice President is spending their budget as efficiently, as wisely as possible.

Of course, bilang Vice President, meron din silang mga...

kailangan tulungan.

Bilang kayo, mga politicians, marami talagang lumalapit sa amin.

I'm sure kay Vice President, marami rin lumalapit ang humingi ng tulong.

At itong social economic program will be a tool for her to help her constituents, or our constituents for that matter,

para mabigyan naman ng relief yung ating mga constituents.

So I only have one question.

Atty. Zulaika, bilang Chief of Staff, may I know where is the Vice President?

Traditionally kasi pag ganitong mga budget deliberation, the Head of Office comes here to defend their budget.

Alam mo naman yan. You've been here for the last four years.

And traditionally, even last year when I was the Chairman of the Finance Committee,

the Vice President took time to come here to defend her budget.

So may I know, for the record, kung nasaan ang ating butihing Vice President?

Yes. Thank you, Your Honor.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

The Vice President is actually representing former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte

in the inurnment of our long-serving city planner in Davao City.

So the schedule for the inurnment is today, October 20.

So she's the representative of the former President.

Is that in the country or outside of the country?

Just in the country, Your Honor.

Just in the country.

Well, we hope that sa plenary, we would welcome her presence to further defend her budget.

This is the first step.

Alam mo naman yan, may second step pa tayo, which is plenary.

And we would hope that she can give time.

We would hope that she can give time to represent her office and defend her budget in plenary.

Yes, Your Honor.

But at this time, during the committee level, I'll leave it to our Chairman,

who is the one spearheading the budget of the entire bureaucracy.

So I'll leave the shepherding to him on the budget of the OVP.

So with that, Mr. Chairman, maraming salamat.

Thank you, our Senate President.

Likewise, the Chair would like to acknowledge the presence of Senator Bong Go.

At this point, I'd like to open the floor to our colleagues if there are any questions for the OVP.

Yes, Senator Marcos.

Yes, Chairman.

Thank you very much and welcome to the Office of the Vice President, to the halls of the Senate.

At gusto ko lang sumali dun sa sinabi ng ating mahal na Chairman, si JV, na i-extend na lang yung traditional courtesy natin.

Sa ating mga executive offices, as we do, to the other house, the House of Representatives.

At kahit wala rito ang Pangulo, kahit wala yung pangalawang Pangulo, e talagang namang hinahayaan.

Higit sa lahat, nabawasan pa yung budget ninyo ng higit sa 11%.

Kaya't ang tanging tanong ko na lamang is maliban dun sa sinasabing mga...

Socio-economic programs, ano ba talaga ang mababawasan?

Kasi alam ko maraming tulong, ako yung nakasama sa mag-negosyo-taday na iba't-ibang mga opening ninyo.

Ano ang matatamaan at mapeperwisyo ba yung mga beneficiaries natin?

At the outset, Your Honor, much of the budget is really because there is a reprogramming or recalibration of our programs.

One good example could be, as you mentioned, the mag-negosyo-taday.

This year, we're concentrating on monitoring and evaluation and checking if it actually has made impact, this particular program.

Therefore, we have identified a reduced number of beneficiaries and target beneficiaries for the year.

Another example could be, maybe we can have our Director for Operations, Pagbabago.

Thank you, Yusek. Madam Chair, this is with regard to our Pagbabago a Million Learners campaign.

We are about to reach already our target, which is 1 million learners to be given with the Pagbabago bags, with raincoats and dental kits as well.

So parang yun na rin po, parang napakasaya na rin po namin dahil hindi naaabot ng 2028, ma-re-reach na rin po namin yung goal namin for the 1 million learners.

Thank you and congratulations on the early attainment of the goals stated, your targets.

At syempre, gusto rin namin malaman dun sa mag-negosyo-taday.

Kung ilan dun talaga tuloy-tuloy na nag-negosyo, kasi maganda yung sinasabing nyo, kulang na kulang ang monitoring at evaluation sa buong pamahalaan.

At mahusay naman that we take a step back and assess the success and the accomplishment in our actual projects.

With that, I move that we endorse the budget of the Vice President to the plenary.

Thank you, Senator Marcos. But before that, I would like to ask Senator Bong Go.

Mr. Chair, good morning po sa lahat ng officials ng OVP. Maraming salamat po sa inyong servisyo, patuloy na servisyo sa ating mga kababayan.

I just want to express my strong support for the proposed budget of the Office of the Vice President.

Napansin ko po from 2026 na bawasan pa kayo from 800 million to naging 700 plus na lang million.

Ngunit patuloy...

This year po, napansin ko po...

Despite the Office's limited budget, nagkaroon po ang OVP ng mga programang nagbibigay ng tunay na beneficyo sa ating mamamayan.

From disaster operations, patuloy po ang inyong tulong, pangkabuhayan programs at libring sakay, among others, patuloy po ito.

At napagkasha nyo po ang inyong pondo. Salamat po sa inyong lahat.

These are just some of the programs of the Office of the Vice President that provide meaningful assistance to our fellow Filipinos.

Despite its annual limited budget, the OVP continues to carry out its mandate and deliver services to those who need them most.

Kumusta po inyong libring sakay?

Sa inyong tuloy-tuloy po ba?

Yes, sir. Very operational po yung ating libring sakay.

We have nine buses already, sir. It is deployed in...

Particularly, we have in EDSA Carousel, Monumento

to PITX, we have two buses.

We have also two...

buses operating in

the Commonwealth and Quiapo, it's

vice versa. We have also P-TEX to

Naic, Cavite, and we have one

in Bacolod, one in

Cebu City, one in Davao, and

one in Tacloban City, Your Honor.

Salamat po, at nakikita ko

maraming natutulungan po ito.

At ako mismo,

nung mga nakaraang taon, ay tayo rin po

sumuporta sa programang

ito. Sana po'y maipagpatuloy

nyo ito. Nakakatulong talaga sa ating mga

kababayan. Sa totoo lamang po,

inihalal ang Vice President na hindi

lamang para umupo sa pwesto at maging

spare tire. Inihalal

po siya para maging working

Vice President para maglingkod at tumugon

sa pangangailangan ng ating mga

kababayan. Lahat po tayo

ay public servants. We are meant

to serve the Filipino people.

Basic mandate po ang tumulong

lalo na sa nangangailangan ng social

services. Salamat

po sa inyong lahat, despite

your limited budget, patuloy

kayong nagsiservisyo. Nandito

lamang po kami, kahit isang boto lamang po

ako para sumuporta po sa

inyong opisina. Basta

makakatulong po ng mga programa sa ating

mga kababayan Pilipino. Lalong-lalo na po

yung mga mahirap. Salamat po sa inyo.

With that, Mr. Chair, I second

the motion to submit and recommend

to the plenary the proposed budget of

the OVP for 2027.

Yes,

we take note of the two

motions by

Senator Marcos and Senator

Bongo. However,

it is worth noting that

among the agencies and departments

being the chairman of the Committee on Finance

this year, lahat po talaga

natural na humingi ng taas

ng raise, ng increase

in most

if not

majority of the

departments are appealing

to increase their budgets.

And OBP is just

one of the departments of the very few.

Just like the Senate.

Ang Senate po, nagbabaho kami under

the leadership

of our Senate President.

The Senate

has a lower

budget this year by 1 billion.

And I noticed that the

OBP is less. Almost

86 million po ang inyong

naibawas

from compared to the

2027

GAA. Am I correct?

Tama po. So, ang tanong ko lang po,

do you still intend

to continue with the, I think that

that's a good program, yung inyong

negosyo, magnegosyo ka dahil, and

yung libre sakay,

any updates lang, sayang doon. Because

now that we have a crisis,

malaking tulong po sana yan,

kung itutuloy, and we will support that

dahil it will at least

fill in the gaps.

Because of the,

minsan yung iba ayaw

nang bumiyahe dahil sa taas ng presyo

ng krudo

na nalulugi

sila. So, sige po,

Atty. Zuleyka, can you

brief me with the two programs?

Yes, Your Honor.

The libre sakay continues to

flourish. As a matter of fact, Your Honor, we are

expecting our 4 millionth

passenger anytime, within two weeks

time. I understand.

So, we already have nine buses, as mentioned by

our Director for Operations. And then,

it is our own way to provide

free transport to our

fellow Filipinos.

Daily. Daily ang

services nito.

For the mag-negosyo today, as mentioned

earlier, we are concentrating on monitor

and checking and evaluating

if our beneficiaries

have actually made an

impact or made successes of the businesses

that were, or livelihood that was

provided them.

Yes, Your Honor.

So, are you sure you want

to recalibrate

and if it's

successful, sayag naman kung ito'y makakatulong

sa mga negosyo?

Yes, Your Honor. Recalibration

is a program

and program mix.

So, with that,

actually, we will support

the social programs of the office

of the Vice President and

in spite of all of

the political noise, we are still hoping that

one day that we will have

unity

in this country.

And we are looking

and praying for that in the future.

And I send our regards to our

Vice President. We're hoping to

see her during plenary.

And the Committee Chair would like to thank

everyone, especially our

esteemed resource persons

led by the Chief of Staff of the OVP

Attorney, Zolaica

Lopez, and the rest of the

OVP family. Thank you for

joining this morning's

budget hearing.

There being no further questions, the budget of the

Office of the Vice President is deemed submitted for the

plenary's consideration.

Subject to the discussion and submission of

documents requested.

Gusto ko sana 15 minutes eh, kaso

tumagal lang konti. So,

and send our regards to

our Vice President.

Magandang umaga po. This briefing is hereby

suspended. Thank you.

Thank you, Your Honors.