Vice President’s 2021 budget hiked by P229 million

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo’s office is getting a P229-million increase, as reflected in the 2021 General Appropriations Bill ratified by Congress, placing her official budget for next year at P900 million.

Anakalusugan party-list Rep. Mike Defensor said over the weekend that the figure is based on the “final version” of the proposed P4.506-trillion 2021 national budget which both the Senate and House of Representatives approved.

The administration congressman said the increase will most likely go to Robredo’s “financial assistance/subsidy allocation, which is the equivalent of a lawmaker’s pork barrel, and to the purchase of six new vehicles.”

Defensor said the increases for Robredo’s office and for the House and the Senate were part of the P183 billion in fund realignments the two chambers made in the “programmed” or tax-funded portion of the budget.

“None of that amount was added to the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines that will save lives and livelihood, revive the economy and return the country to pre-pandemic normality,” he said.

He said the vaccine acquisition fund was maintained at P2.5 billion as proposed by Malacañang.

Defensor disclosed that the Senate and the House also supplemented their funds by P1 billion each, bringing their combined funding to P28.5 billion.

He said the legislature retained the outlay for the office of President Duterte at P8.2 billion.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said Duterte is scheduled to sign the proposed 2021 national budget today, but hinted earlier that the Chief Executive could veto some appropriations.

“They augmented it (COVID-19 funds) by P72 billion, but this was relegated to the unprogrammed part of the budget that could be used only if there is excess tax revenue, a new tax or a loan,” Roque said.

Defensor noted that the administration’s economic managers are eyeing borrowings to finance vaccine procurement. “We could have funded this from taxes instead of relying on lenders for money to buy badly needed vaccines,” he said.