Zubiri defends OVP’s 2026 budget as ‘lean and mean,’ urges courtesy approval

Senate Minority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri on Monday vouched for the approval of the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) 2026 budget, appealing to colleagues to grant it “out of courtesy.”

The Senate finance committee approved the OVP’s budget in under an hour during its September 29 hearing, with Vice President Sara Duterte facing corruption allegations tied to her OVP’s allocations in the past years.

“The budget of the Vice President is already a lean and mean budget. Wala na pong dagdag. Kawawa na nga po, Mr. President,” Zubiri said during the hearing.

OVP’s 2026 budget marks P902.895 million, most of it earmarked for welfare programs.

This budget marks a recovery from the P733 million it received in 2025, which had been cut following controversy over confidential funds and the impeachment complaint that followed.

The amount remains far below the levels earlier in Duterte’s term, when the OVP had P2.3 billion in 2023 and P1.8 billion in 2024.

Zubiri argues that the office’s funding was already modest compared to other agencies.

Senator Bong Go even offered to reduce his own office’s funds and transfer part of it to the OVP, a move Zubiri confirmed was procedurally possible.

“Kung pwede lang po, Mr. Chair, kung allowed po ito bawasan po ang budget ko sa opisina sa Senado kahit konti ilagay na lang po sa OVP,” Go said.

Senator Jinggoy Estrada likewise supported the OVP’s budget, saying the additional resources would allow Duterte to serve more effectively as a “working vice president.”

The vice president then defended her office’s operations despite her allegations of misused confidential funds, arguing that the OVP stands resolutely as “the people’s institution.”

“Despite challenges, nothing has so far been insurmountable enough to take OVP off its track, derail its course, or completely incapacitate the institution and stop it from serving the interests of the people,” VP Sara added.

The senators present in the hearing are mostly minority bloc members or the Pro-Duterte allies who also backed the allocation.