Enough OVP funds left for Robredo and her advocacies –VP Binay's staff

Vice President-elect Leni Robredo will have enough funds to implement her programs and projects when she assumes office on June 30.

Undersecretary Benjamin Martinez Jr., chief of staff of outgoing Vice President Jejomar Binay, on Thursday said that as of May 31, they have only used some P78 million of the P500 million budget of the OVP for 2016.

"I think they will be happy na marami silang magagastos in terms of their programs," he told reporters after a two-hour meeting with Robredo's transition team at the Coconut Palace.

"Give it another P10 million siguro by the end of June, definitely way, way below ang aming nagagastos," he added.

Martinez said most of the budget were spent on medical and burial assistance for people who sought financial help from the OVP.

"I think mas marami silang magagastos ngayon dahil doble ang ginawang budget sa OVP for 2016. It was Senator [Juan Ponce] Enrile who pushed for that," he said, referring to the increase in the budget of the OVP.

Boyet Dy, head of Robredo’s transition team, said they are grateful for the "fiscal space" given to them.

"We are really very grateful to the Office of the Vice President for what they have turned over and made sure that we have enough fiscal space to be able to push our own advocacies and programs not just this year but even up to 2017,” he said in a separate interview.

"So we are optimistic that the resources available are really resources that we could leverage to push the advocacies of VP-elect Robredo," he added.

After the meeting at the Coconut Palace, Binay and Robredo's staff went to the OVP office at the PNB building along Macapagal Avenue, which houses the OVP's administrative, finance, and planning departments, for ocular.

Dy reiterated that Robredo does want to hold office at the Coconut Palace.

"Her first preference is not to be in the Coconut Palace. That is final in terms of her preference, but of course if we don’t find a suitable location given na very short na ang ating timetable we might stay for a while, at least for the first few months," he said.

"Our priority now is to find a suitable location the soonest possible so that we can arrange for it to be her office as much as possible after taking her oath," Dy added. —KBK, GMA News