Atty. Zuleika, niresbakan si JV at Gatchalian!

[0:00] Mr. Chairman, binabasa ko itong budget ng OVP and nakita ko na compared to last year, it went down by 11%. [0:10] It went down by approximately from $889 million to $785 million. [0:20] And nakita ko rin na ang kanilang main program ay yung socio-economic program na tumutulong sa ating mga constituents. [0:37] And I saw various components of that program. [0:41] So with that, nakita ko na the Office of the Vice President is spending their budget as efficiently, as wisely as possible. [0:53] Of course, bilang Vice President, meron rin silang mga kailangan tulungan. [1:00] Bilang kayo, mga politicians, marami talagang lumalapit sa amin. [1:05] I'm sure kay Vice President, marami rin lumalapit ang mingin ng tulong. [1:09] At itong socio-economic program will be a tool for her to help her constituents or our constituents for that matter para mabigyan naman ng relief yung ating mga constituents. [1:25] So I only have one question, Attorney Zulaika bilang Chief of Staff. [1:31] May I know where is the Vice President? [1:32] Traditionally, kasi pag-anitong mga budget deliberation, the head of office comes here to defend their budget. [1:45] Alam mo naman yan, you've been here for the last four years. [1:50] And traditionally, even last year when I was the Chairman of the Finance Committee, [1:55] si Vice President took time to come here to defend her budget. [2:01] So may I know for the record kung nasaan ang ating buting Vice President. [2:05] Yes. Thank you, Your Honor. [2:07] Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. [2:09] The Vice President is actually representing former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in the enrollment of our long-serving city planner in Davao City. [2:24] So the schedule for the enrollment is today, October 20. [2:28] So she's the representative of the former President. [2:30] Is that in the country or outside of the country? [2:35] Just in the country. [2:36] Just in the country. [2:37] Well, we hope that sa plenary, we would welcome her presence to further defend her budget. [2:50] This is the first step. [2:51] Alam mo naman yan, may second step pa tayo, which is plenary. [2:53] And we would hope that she can give time to represent her office and defend her budget in plenary. [3:01] Yes, Your Honor. [3:02] But at this time, during the committee level, I'll leave it to our Chairman, [3:08] who is the one spearheading the budget of the entire bureaucracy. [3:12] So I'll leave the shepherding to him on the budget of the OVP. [3:21] So with that, Mr. Chairman, maraming salamat. [3:25] Thank you, our Senate President. [3:27] Likewise, the Chair would like to acknowledge the presence of Hacentor Bongo. [3:30] At this point, I'd like to open the floor to our colleagues if there are any questions for the OVP. [3:36] Yes, Hacentor Marcos. [3:37] Yes, Chairman. [3:39] Thank you very much and welcome to the Office of the Vice President to the Halls of the Senate. [3:44] At gusto ko lang sumali dun sa sinabi ng ating mahal na Chairman, si JV, na i-extend na lang yung traditional courtesy natin sa ating mga executive offices as we do to the other house, the House of Representatives. [4:05] At kahit wala rito ang Pangulo, kahit wala yung pangalawang Pangulo, eh talaga namang hinahayaan. [4:12] Higit sa lahat, nabawasan pa yung budget ninyo ng higit sa 11%. [4:17] Kaya't ang tanging tanong ko na lamang is, maliban dun sa sinasabing mga socio-economic programs, ano ba talaga ang mababawasan? [4:31] Kasi alam ko, maraming tulong. Ako'y nakasama sa magnegosyo taday na iba't ibang mga opening ninyo. [4:38] Ano ang matatamaan at mapeperwisyo ba yung mga beneficiaries natin? [4:42] At the outset, Your Honor, much of the budget is really because there is a reprogramming or recalibration of our programs. [4:53] One good example could be, as you mentioned, the magnegosyo taday. [4:58] This year, we're concentrating on monitoring and evaluation and checking if it actually has made impact, this particular program. [5:07] Therefore, do we have identified reduced number of beneficiaries and target beneficiaries for the year? [5:15] Another example could be, maybe we can have our Director for Operations, Pagbabago. [5:20] Thank you, Yusek. [5:21] Madam Chair, this is with regard to our Pagbabago a Million Learners campaign. [5:26] We are about to reach already our target, which is 1 million learners to be given with the Pagbabago bags, with raincoats, and dental kits as well. [5:34] So, parang yun na rin po, parang napakasaya na rin po namin dahil hindi naaabot ng 2028. [5:41] Magre-reach na rin po namin yung goal namin for the 1 million learners. [5:45] Thank you and congratulations on the early attainment of the goals stated, your targets. [5:51] At syempre, gusto rin namin mahalaman dun sa magnegosyo taday. [5:56] Kung ilan dun talaga tuloy-tuloy na nagnegosyo. [5:59] Kasi maganda yung sinasabi nyo, kulang na kulang ang monitoring at evaluation sa buong pamahalaan. [6:05] At mahusay naman that we take a step back and assess the success and the accomplishment in our actual projects. [6:12] With that, I move that we endorse the budget of the Vice President to the plenary. [6:20] Thank you, Senator Marcos. [6:21] But before that, I would like to ask Senator Bongo. [6:25] Mr. Chair, good morning po. [6:27] Sa lahat ng officials ng OVP, maraming salamat po sa inyong servisyo. [6:32] Patuloy na servisyo sa ating mga kababayan. [6:35] I just want to express my strong support for the proposed budget of the Office of the Vice President. [6:41] Napansin ko po, from 2026, nabawasan pa kayo from 800 million to naging 700 plus na lang million. [6:51] Ngunit, this year po, napansin ko rin po, despite the office limited budget, [6:59] nagkaroon po ang OVP ng mga programang nagbibigay ng tunay na beneficyo sa ating mamamayan. [7:04] From disaster operations, patuloy po ang inyong tulong, pangkabuhayan programs at libreng sakay among others, patuloy po ito. [7:13] At napagkasya niyo po ang inyong pondo. Salamat po sa inyong lahat. [7:19] These are just some of the programs of the Office of the Vice President that provide meaningful assistance to our fellow Filipinos. [7:26] Despite its annual limited budget, the OVP continues to carry out its mandate [7:33] and deliver services to those who need them most. [7:36] Kumusta po yung inyong libreng sakay? [7:39] Sa inyong tuloy-tuloy po ba? [7:41] Yes, sir. Very operational po yung ating libreng sakay. [7:49] We have nine buses already, sir. It is deployed in, particularly, we have in Edsa Carousel Monumento P-TEX. [7:56] We have two buses. We have also two buses operating in the Commonwealth and Quiapo. [8:02] It's vice versa. We have also P-TEX to Naik, Cavite, and we have one in Bacolod, [8:07] one in Cebu City, one in Davao, and one in Tacloban City. [8:12] Your Honor. [8:14] Salamat po. At nakikita ko maraming natutulungan po ito. [8:18] At ako mismo, nung mga nakaraang taon, tayo rin po sumuporta sa programang ito. [8:25] Sana po iba ipagpatuloy niyo ito. Nakakatulong talaga sa ating mga kababayan. [8:29] Sa totoo lamang po, inihalal ang Vice President na hindi lamang para umupo sa pwesto at maging spare tire. [8:35] Inihalal po siya para maging working Vice President, para magdingkod at tumugon sa pangangailangan ng ating mga kababayan. [8:43] Lahat po tayo ay public servants. We are meant to serve the Filipino people. [8:48] Basic mandate po ang tumulong, lalo na sa nangangailangan ng social services. [8:54] Salamat po sa inyong lahat. Despite your limited budget, patuloy kayong nagsiservisyo. [8:59] Dito lamang po kami, kahit isang boto lamang po ako, para sumuporta po sa inyong opisina. [9:05] Basta makakatulong po ng mga programa sa ating mga kababayang Pilipino. [9:09] Lalong-lalong na po yung mga mahirap. Salamat po sa inyo. [9:12] With that, Mr. Chair, I second the motion to submit and recommend to the Plenary the proposed budget of the OVP for 2027. [9:21] Yes, we take note of the two motions by Senator Marcos and Senator Bongo. [9:28] However, it is worth noting that among the agencies and departments, being the Chairman of Committee on Finance this year, [9:37] lahat po talaga natural na humingi ng taas, ng race, ng increase. [9:42] And most, if not majority of the departments are appealing to increase their budgets. [9:51] And OVP is just one of the departments of the very few, just like the Senate. [9:56] Ang Senate po, nagbabaho kami under the leadership of our Senate President. [10:02] The Senate has a lower budget this year by $1 billion. [10:09] And I noticed that the OVP is less, almost $86 million po ang inyong naibawas, no? [10:17] From compared to the now 2027 GAA. [10:21] May correct? Tama po. [10:23] So, ang tanong ko lang po, do you still intend to continue with the, I think that that's a good program, [10:29] yung inyong negosyo, mag-negosyo ka day, and yung libre sakay, any updates lang, sayang dun. [10:36] Because now that we have a crisis, malaking tulong po sana yan, kung itutuloy, and we will support that. [10:43] Dahil it will at least fill in the gaps, no? [10:47] Because of the, I mean, san yung iba ayaw ng bumiyahe. [10:50] Dahil sa taas ng presyo ng krudo, na nalulugi sila, no? [10:55] So, sige po, Attorney Zuleka, can you brief me with the two programs? [11:01] Yes, Your Honor, no? [11:03] The Libre Sakay continues to flourish. [11:05] As a matter of fact, Your Honor, we are expecting our 4 millionth passenger anytime, within 2 weeks' time, I understand, no? [11:12] So, we already have 9 buses, as mentioned by our Director for Operations. [11:16] And then, it is our own way to provide free transport to our fellow Filipinos, no? [11:23] Daily, daily ang services nito. [11:25] For the mag-negosyo to die, as mentioned earlier, we are concentrating on monitor and checking and evaluating [11:31] if our beneficiaries have actually made an impact or made successes of the businesses that were, [11:38] or livelihood that was provided them. [11:40] Yes, Your Honor. [11:41] So, are you sure you want to recalibrate and if it's successful, sayang naman kung ito'y makakatulong sa mga negosyo? [11:51] Yes, Your Honor, recalibration is a program and a program myth. [11:56] So, with that, actually, we will support the social programs of the office of the Vice President and, you know, in spite of all of the political noise, [12:08] we are still hoping that one day that we will have unity in this country, you know, and we are looking and praying for that in the future. [12:19] And I'll send our regards to our Vice President. [12:22] We're hoping to see her during plenary. [12:24] And, committee chair, we'd like to thank everyone, especially our esteemed resource persons, led by the Chief of Staff of the OVP Attorney, [12:33] Zolaikala Lopez, and the rest of the OVP family. [12:38] Thank you for joining this morning's budget hearing. [12:44] There being no further questions, the budget of the office of the Vice President is deemed submitted for the plenist consideration, [12:50] subject to the discussion and submission of documents requested. [12:54] Sana po, gusto ko sana 15 minutes, kaso tumagal ng konde. [12:58] So, pasayin sila po, and send our regards to our Vice President. [13:02] Magandang umaga po. [13:04] This briefing is here by suspended. [13:06] Thank you. [13:06] Thank you, Your Honors.