Senator Bong Go expressed willingness to allocate part of his own office’s budget to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) as the Senate finance committee swiftly approved its proposed ₱902.89-million allocation for 2026.
Vice President Sara Duterte personally appeared before the panel led by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, joined by eight OVP officials, to justify how their funds were being used, citing social services programs as a key priority.
During the 40-minute hearing, Senator Erwin Tulfo was the only one to raise questions, asking which programs might be affected by the reduction made by the Department of Budget and Management from the OVP’s original request.
It was Go, however, who underscored his support by offering to share his office’s budget with the OVP to help sustain its programs. His gesture was echoed by Senator Jinggoy Estrada, who suggested that “insertions” in the national budget identified by fellow senators could also be redirected to the Vice President’s office.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri then pushed for the immediate approval of the OVP budget as an act of parliamentary courtesy, describing it as already “lean and mean.”
