INQToday: House eyes cuts in OVP, DepEd confidential funds to boost PCG’s budget

Here’s a quick roundup of today’s top stories:

Teodoro asks China after barrier removal: Is that a provocation already?

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro on Wednesday refuted China’s claim that Philippines is the one provoking trouble in Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal).

“Provocation na ba yun sa kanila? Ano ba ang provocation? Yung paglalagay ng barrier or pagtatangal ng illegal na harang?” Teodoro asked in an interview in Senate.

Spent in 11 days? OVP budget sponsor calls COA report ‘inaccurate’

The Office of the Vice President (OVP) spent its confidential funds (CF) in 2022 for 19 days — the original report — and not 11 days as admitted by Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo, the agency’s budget sponsor said on Wednesday.

At the plenary debates on the OVP budget, budget sponsor and Davao de Oro 1st District Rep. Maria Carmen Zamora was asked by ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro whether it is true that the P125 million CF was spent only for 11 days, between December 13 to 31, 2022.

House eyes cuts in OVP, DepEd confidential funds to boost PCG’s budget

Confidential funds in the proposed 2024 budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education (DepEd) may be reduced to give way to the allocation for Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), House appropriations chair and Ako Bicol Party-list Representative Elizaldy Co announced.

In a text message to Inquirer.net on Wednesday, Co confirmed lawmakers are looking at the confidential funds (CF) in the two agencies — both headed by Vice President Sara Duterte — to augment the PCG funding.

DFA confirms: Azurin barred from entering Canada, flew back to PH voluntarily

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has confirmed that retired police general Rodolfo Azurin Jr. was prevented from entering Canada during a recent personal trip and voluntarily returned to the Philippines after the incident.

However, the reason Azurin was stopped in the first place was not revealed during the House plenary debates on the DFA’s proposed 2024 budget on Wednesday.

Iraq wedding inferno leaves over 100 dead, 150 injured

A fire at a wedding hall in northern Iraq killed at least 100 people and injured 150 others, authorities said Wednesday.

The fire happened in Iraq’s Nineveh province in its Hamdaniya area, authorities said. That’s a predominantly Christian area just outside of the northern city of Mosul, some 335 kilometers (205 miles) northwest of the capital, Baghdad.

‘EAT’ management says sorry for Joey De Leon’s ‘lubid’ joke

The management of noontime show “EAT” has apologized for the “lubid” joke made by one of one its main hosts, Joey de Leon, over the weekend.

This was revealed on Wednesday while the Senate finance subcommittee led by Senator  Jinggoy Estrada was discussing the proposed budget of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) for 2024.