Angara defends Marcos office’s intel funds: President needs reliable info to maintain order

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Sonny Angara defended on Thursday the confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs) of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s office.

During the plenary session, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III questioned the P4.5-billion CIFs in the Office of the President’s (OP) P8.9-billion 2023 budget.

The allocation for confidential funds is P2.25 billion and the other half is for intelligence funds.

“Why should the Office of the President be given intelligence funds at P2.25 billion when there are already existing intelligence agencies and units which can serve the intelligence needs of the Office of the President or the president himself?” Pimentel inquired.

Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, chairperson of the Committee on Finance, sponsors House Bill No. 4488 under Committee Report No. 10, or the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for fiscal year 2023 on November 8, 2022. (Bibo Nueva España/Senate PRIB)

Angara, chairperson of the Senate finance panel and sponsor of the budget, argued that Marcos is the country’s chief executive and needs access to reliable information to keep order in the country.

“The president as we know, under the Constitution, is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. He’s also the chairman of the National Security Council,” Angara noted.

“Do you say cliché or a common phrase, the buck stops with him. If there is one person who needs access to good intelligence or information in the whole country, then I think there should be no argument that it is our president because he is responsible — I mean, even things which are not his fault are blamed on him,” he explained.

Recently, Pimentel pleaded to government agencies with new confidential funds to not start with this practice as it may continue in the following years.

After deliberations, the Senate approved the OP’s budget.

JMS