Politics · Philippines Bureau
Vice President Duterte absent from Senate hearing on OVP budget
Vice President Sara Duterte did not attend a Senate budget hearing for the Office of the Vice President on Tuesday. Her chief of staff led the office's defense of its P785.2 million proposed budget for 2027.
LSN Philippines ·
MANILA — The Office of the Vice President faced the Senate without its titular head during budget deliberations on Tuesday, with Chief of Staff Atty. Zuleika Lopez and other staff members representing the office instead.
The Senate committee heard the OVP's pitch for P785.2 million in funding for 2027 during the hearing. Vice President Sara Duterte's absence marked another high-profile instance of the top executive official not appearing before lawmakers during budget discussions.
Lopez and her team fielded questions and presented the office's budgetary requirements and programmatic priorities to senators. The proposed allocation covers operational expenses and initiatives under the OVP's mandate for the coming year.
The hearing comes amid ongoing scrutiny of the vice president's office expenditures and operations. The budget deliberation process typically requires direct engagement between government agencies and the legislative branch as Congress reviews spending proposals for the fiscal year ahead.