Senate panel approves proposed 2027 OVP budget in under 20 minutes

Vice President Sara Duterte talks to supporters as she prepares to leave the Quezon City Regional Trial Court after the postponement of the arraignment for her grave threats case, on October 9, 2026.

Noel Celis/Reuters

Vice President Sara Duterte skipped the budget hearing to represent her father at the inurnment of a Davao City official, OVP chief of staff Zuleika Lopez tells the Senate finance sub-committee A

MANILA, Philippines – The proposed P785.2-million of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) for 2027 hurled the deliberations of a Senate Finance sub-panel on Tuesday, October 20, in under 20 minutes. 

Senate finance committee chairperson JV Ejercito arrived in the upper chamber at around 10:16 am to open the deliberations of Senate finance sub-committee A on the OVP’s proposed budget.

Ejercito proposed the budget’s approval for plenary consideration at around 10:31 am, extending inter-parliamentary courtesy to the OVP. 

“This representation acknowledges the tradition of inter-parliamentary courtesy in respect to the OVP while also assuring to the public that the fiscal year 2027 proposed expenditure program is taken up wth due diligence,” the lawmaker said.

OVP chief of staff Zuleika Lopez represented the agency at the hearing.

Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian asked Lopez about the absence of Vice President Sara Duterte at the budget hearing. He noted that last year, Duterte took time out of her busy schedule to lead her agency in defending their budget.

Lopez answered, “The Vice President is actually representing former president Rodrigo Duterte in the inurnment of our long serving city planner in Davao City. The schedule for the inurnment is today, October 20. So she’s the representative of the former president.”

Gatchalian, who was Senate finance committee chair during the budget deliberations in the previous year, expressed hope that Duterte would defend the OVP budget at the plenary.

The OVP is proposing a P785.2-million budget for next year — 11% lower than its P889 million budget for 2026. Among their projects are socioeconomic programs targeted to extend aid.

The Senate is on a break in the impeachment trial of Duterte to focus on the proposed 2027 budget. – Rappler.com