Vice President Sara Duterte has argued that comparing the proposed P2 billion budget for her office in 2025 to the budget during former Vice President Leni Robredo's tenure is "absurd." During a budget hearing at the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Duterte stated that it would be unreasonable to draw comparisons between the two.
"It is my belief that it will be a stretch, if not absurd, to compare the budget of my immediate predecessor to the present budget proposal," Duterte said. She added, "We do not have personal knowledge as to why she did not request for a fair budget for her projects."
Under Robredo, the Office of the Vice President (OVP) was allocated a budget of P712 million in 2022, with the highest allocation being P900 million in 2021. In contrast, the OVP under Duterte received a budget of P2.3 billion in 2023 and P1.87 billion in 2024.
While Duterte did not specify who was making these comparisons, House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro previously criticized the large number of security personnel assigned to Duterte. According to the 2022 Commission on Audit (COA) annual report, Duterte's Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group (VPSPG) had 433 personnel, compared to the 78 security personnel assigned to Robredo in 2021.
Castro had questioned the unprecedented number of security personnel for a Vice President, remarking, "She has loads of security, a battalion. This is unprecedented. Is she insecure?"
The OVP defended the large security detail, noting that COA did not provide any adverse opinion on the number of security personnel. Duterte also explained that her security detail was expanded following legal issuances from the Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM), leading to the creation of new security divisions specifically for the Vice President.
"On the issue of security personnel, it must be clarified that during the time of my predecessor, the protection team was only limited to the Vice Presidential Security Detachment. During my term, however, there were legal issuances made by the PNP, AFP, and NAPOLCOM for the creation of the AFP Vice-Presidential Security and Protection Group and the PNP Vice-Presidential Protection Division," Duterte clarified.
Duterte further emphasized that the number of security personnel is determined by these agencies and not by the OVP itself. "To date, there are no more PNP personnel in the OVP," she added.
The House committee on appropriations deferred the deliberation of the OVP's proposed budget after Duterte declined to disclose specific details on how her office utilizes its funds. Following this, the OVP announced plans to reach out to Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Adiong, the designated sponsor of its budget in the House plenary.
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