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Senators Seek Hike in Robredo's Budget, Citing Her COVID Response

Lawmakers commend VP's pandemic efforts.
by Erwin Colcol
A day ago
Photo/s: OVP
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Senators across party lines on Tuesday called for an increase in the budget for the office of Vice President Leni Robredo for 2022 as they commended her efforts to help Filipinos during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Robredo's office was allocated a budget of P713 million for 2022 under the National Expenditure Program prepared by the Department of Budget and Management, which is 21% lower than its P908 million appropriations this year.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, and Senators Sonny Angara and Francis Pangilinan were one in supporting an increase in the OVP's budget.

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Angara, who chairs the Senate finance committee, said the chamber had always acted favorably on the budget of the OVP. Considering how Robredo helped in the country's pandemic response, this trend "should continue moving forward," he added.

The proposal of some House members to increase the OVP's budget to P1 billion is "not an unreasonable goal", he said.

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Zubiri said the Senate should give the Vice President all the funds that she needs.

"Kung P1 billion ang kailangan ni Ma'am Leni, bigay natin sa kanya. Nakita naman natin na napakasipag ng ating vice president," he said.

"I move that the budget of the OVP be referred to the plenary as amended with the increase she is seeking," he added.

Robredo, who presented the OVP's proposed budget herself, thanked the chamber for pushing for an increase in her office's appropriations for next year.

"The additional support coming from the Senate has always been very valuable for us especially as we are doing all the COVID-19 response initiatives. It has allowed us to pursue many initiatives and it has proven to be very helpful to those going through the difficulties of the pandemic," she said.

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