00:00Senator Risa Ontiveros wants to transfer to another program the 10 million pesos requested by the Office of the Vice President
00:08for the distribution of the book of Vice President Sara Duterte.
00:12The DSWD responded to the allegation of the DICE that the government is politically monitoring the benefits of the aid.
00:19We have a report from Ma'am Gonzalez.
00:22Special mention of Vice President Sara Duterte is the AICS or the aid provided by the DSWD
00:30when the Senate discussed yesterday the more than 2 billion pesos proposed budget of the Office of the Vice President for 2025.
00:38The AICS is one of the government's projects that is used in politics.
00:43If we are being referred or given an endorsement by the AICS to the DSWD,
00:52most of the time the answer we get is no because it came from the Office of the Vice President and it's an enemy.
00:59DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said they will consult with the OVP to investigate the issue.
01:06Whether there is a referral or no referral, as long as it needs and meets our requirements, we will help.
01:14Senator Riza Hontiveros' suggestion is to transfer the OVP fund to the respective agencies for some of its programs.
01:21It's like duplicating the current programs of the departments.
01:27And by the way, this is not the first time that I raised this issue.
01:31I also raised this issue before in the NTF-LTAP.
01:35The OVP will just put a provision that the OVP can request a fund from a department that has a similar project.
01:41This will be voted by the Senate.
01:43Another thing that Hontiveros wants to transfer is the 10 million pesos for the distribution of the book that was written by Duterte.
01:50It's an improper request because if you have a written book,
01:56the government funds and taxpayers' money should not be used to distribute it.
02:02Is that a textbook? Is it approved by DEPED?
02:05If we talk about the textbook problem of DEPED in the past two years, there are a lot of problems, right?
02:11So why should a personally authored book be prioritized?
02:15Earlier, Hontiveros received Duterte's promised copy of the book, Isang Kaibigan, which he published in November 2023.
02:24I scanned it. The illustrations are colorful.
02:30Later, I will read the text over and over again.
02:33In the last page of the book, it is written in Duterte's bio-note that he is a true friend.
02:38The Senate Finance Committee said that their job is to oversee the budget and Hontiveros' questions should be included.
02:45The Senate President agrees with this.
02:47I think Senator Riza had valid questions which I would advise heads of agencies to be patient with and answer
02:56because these are all connected with the function of Congress.
02:59GMI Integrated News continues to strive to get the attention of the Vice President on this issue.
03:05Mav Gonzalez reporting for GMI Integrated News.
03:26.
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