P433-M budget for OVP approved

THE House of Representatives appropriations committee on Tuesday approved in less than two minutes the proposed P433-million budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) for 2018.

As courtesy to a former member of the House, Robrero got the approval for the budget, which is three percent more than the P428.6-million outlay in 2017, without the need to present it before the committee.

In an interview after the hearing, the Vice President said the OVP has raised its 2018 budget for capital outlay and personnel services to help the office achieve its new mission and vision.

“When I was elected as Vice President, there are many positions that have been previously created but remained vacant. So we have to fill that up,” ac- cording to Robredo.

She said savings from lower maintenance and other operating expenses will be used for the salary of additional manpower.

The Vice President added that they need to hire more people to streamline operations and achieve their goals, as the OVP veers away from purely ceremonial functions to a more advocacy-heavy government agency.

“We are thankful [to the committee on appropriations]. Even if we are prepared to defend our budget proposal, we took it as a sign of trust by the committee in the Office of the Vice President,” Robredo said.

“Our advocacy is more engagement with the private sector,” she added.