Metro Manila, Philippines – The 2026 budget of Vice President Sara Duterte’s office secured swift approval in the Senate plenary, and restored to the original executive proposal, though slightly lower than the amount recommended by the finance committee.
During Day 10 of budget deliberations on Thursday, Nov. 27, finance committee chairman Win Gatchalian announced a ₱889-million budget for the Office of the Vice President (OVP) – lower than the ₱902.895 million initially set by the Senate panel.
Gatchalian explained that the Senate effectively restored the ₱889 million originally proposed in the National Expenditure Program (NEP), which the House of Representatives had reduced to ₱733 million.
“Hindi Senate nagbaba. Senate nagrestore [ng] original amount in the NEP [The Senate did not reduce it. The Senate restored the original amount in the NEP],” Gatchalian said in a text message to NewsWatch Plus.
Duterte attended the Senate plenary deliberations, but no senator raised questions.
Instead, staunch ally Senator Robin Padilla expressed support, praising the Senate’s move to increase the OVP budget from the House-approved amount.
Senate Deputy Majority Leader JV Ejercito then moved to close deliberations and deem the OVP budget submitted or approved.
The proposed ₱6.793-trillion national budget for 2026 will now proceed to livestreamed bicameral conference committee meetings, where the Senate and House will reconcile differences in their versions of the General Appropriations Bill.
The bicameral committee deliberations will be publicly broadcast for the first time ever, a move towards transparency in the wake of a high-stakes corruption scandal that involved budget insertions in exchange for flood control project kickbacks.
