Senators adopt House-approved P9.82-B confidential and intelligence fund

The Senate building at the GSIS Complex in Pasay City. (Photo by LYN RILLON / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — Senators adopted the P9.82-billion confidential and intelligence fund (CIF) in the 2024 national budget proposal, which the House of Representatives earlier approved.

From the P10.1-billion proposal of Malacañang, the House reduced the CIF to P9.82 billion.

This was then adopted by the Senate finance committee, according to its chairman, Senator Sonny Angara.

“The House reduced it, your honor. We adopted in the committee report the House recommendations,” Angara, sponsor of the bill, said on Wednesday.

Angara was responding to Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III’s question about the CIF during their plenary discussions on the proposed P5.768-trillion spending plan for 2024.

It can be recalled that the House announced in October that it stripped several civilian agencies of confidential funds.

These agencies are the Office of the Vice President, Department of Education, Department of Information and Communications Technology, Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Department of Agriculture.

In the Senate, however, Pimentel questioned why the CIF was only reduced by only around P300 million when “one controversial agency”  had already been stripped of a P500-million confidential fund.

Angara explained there were realignments made to some security agencies of the government such as the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, the National Security Council and the Philippine Coast Guard.

READ: House gives zero confidential funds to OVP, DepEd, DICT, DFA, DA

“[M]eron pong realignment na ganon, so the item is still the same although it’s no longer in the same agency,” said Angara.

(There’s an alignment, so the item is still the same although it’s no longer in the same agency.)

READ: Senators agree to remove secret funds of gov’t agencies with civilian function

To this, Pimentel said: Better still realign and then the total amount reduced.

“[W]hat we’re watching for is the proliferation or the multiplication of agencies requesting for it,” said Pimentel