MANILA — Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III on Monday questioned the budget granted to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) for 2023, which is over 3 times more than the office's current allocation.

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Under the Department of Budget and Management's (DBM) National Expenditure Program for 2023, the OVP was given P2.3 billion.

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"I have noticed that compared to the 2022 budget of the OVP, which was P702 million, the P2.3 billion is more than 3 times the budget of the previous fiscal year," Pimentel pointed out.

"Are there no rules on the limit of what the OVP can ask for its budget?" Pimentel asked.

Senate Finance panel chairperson Sen. Sonny Angara came to the defense of OVP, citing "trends" since 2004.

"If you look at the trend since 2004 talagang halos nadadagdagan yung budget ng OVP... It's an important office and we want to support it," Angara said.

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But for Pimentel, the amount was still unusual.

"I'm aware of that but not of this magnitude," Pimentel said.

Angara added that the amount was a product of DBM's thorough examination of the office's needs for next year.

"This is an amount provided by the DBM after discussion with the OVP, and I know this process includes examination of the programs of the coming year, priorities. This is not an arbitrary amount," Angara explained.

The OVP's proposed 2023 budget was "deemed submitted" to the Senate after less than an hour of deliberation.

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