The Office of the Vice President’s proposed budget for 2026 is P903 million, higher than its 2025 budget of P733 million
MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Vice President did not seek confidential and intelligence funds in its proposed budget for 2026.
OVP Spokesperson Ruth Castelo said in a news briefing on Wednesday, July 9, that their office submitted a P733-million budget for 2026 — the same as the approved budget in 2025 — but the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) eventually increased this to P903 million.
This was after the DBM initially added around P60 million to the OVP’s proposed budget, raising it to P803.6 million. It then later acted on the office’s request for funds for additional personnel and IT equipment, bringing the OVP’s proposed budget to P903 million.
When asked, Castelo said the OVP no longer asked for confidential funds for next year, but did not elaborate.
The confidential funds issue put Vice President Sara Duterte and the offices she led in the spotlight in 2023, after if was discovered during the 2024 budget hearings that the DBM granted her request for P125 million in secret funds in 2022, which was spent in just 11 days.
The confidential funds use of the Department of Education during her leadership was extensively probed by the House of Representatives. Duterte’s impeachment articles cited her alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds, with acknowledgment receipts bearing suspicious names.
Watch Castelo’s response to questions about the proposed 2026 OVP budget. – Rappler.com
