House panel terminates discussions on 2023 OP budget

House of Representatives. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – A House of Representatives committee swiftly terminated discussions on Friday on the Office of the President’s (OP) proposed budget for next year. 

It took only less than 10 minutes for the House committee on appropriations to terminate deliberations on the P8.969-billion budget of the OP upon the motion of  House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe.

“By tradition, we’ll be sending parliamentary courtesy to a co-equal branch in government. [Accordingly,] I move to terminate the budget briefing of the Office of the President,” Dalipe said.

 The motion was seconded, but before officially ending, Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez spoke to express the OP’s “deepest sense of gratitude” for the support given by the House committee.

“You can be assured that the Office of the President is here together with you, your honors, in meeting the expectations and hopes of the more than 112 million Filipinos which the President now leads, founded on a solid foundation of 31.5 million votes – more or less – in promoting the people’s welfare and upholding the interest of the nation,” Rodriguez said. 

 “We are one with you, your honors, in nation building,” he added.

Kabataan party-list Representative Raoul Manuel, however, later interjected to manifest that they will “raise [their] points in the plenary session concerning confidential and intelligence funds, and the fund for the oversight on national security programs under the Office of the President.”

Of the almost P9-billion 2023 budget of the OP,  P4.5 billion will be earmarked for confidential and intelligence funds, and P4.898 billion will be allocated for Oversight to National Security Programs.

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 gsg/abc