The Department of Justice seal at its main office. (INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO)
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ) faces “a big drop” in its confidential funds in its proposed 2024 budget.
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III found this out on Monday during the Senate’s plenary debates on the proposed 2024 allocation of the DOJ and its attached agencies.
“Our committee report reflects the amount of P168 million for the confidential fund of the [DOJ’s] Office of the Secretary. Is this correct?” Pimentel said.
Sen. Sonny Angara, the sponsor of the 2024 DOJ budget, said the data was correct.
He explained that it was the lump sum of the DOJ confidential funds for the Office of Secretary, the Witness Protection Program, the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, and the Cybercrime Program.
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“The General Appropriations Act of 2023 gave the [DOJ] Office of Secretary P500 million in confidential funds. Then let’s compare it to the committee report for next year – P168 million,” Pimentel said.
“So we saw a big drop or decrease. We have established that. There was a decline,” he stressed in Filipino.
Angara affirmed the observation but the latter did not detail the reason for the decrease.
Later in the hearing, Angara explained that the DOJ’s confidential funds were mainly used for the “purchase of information.”
Meanwhile, the following attached agencies of the DOJ are set to receive separate confidential fund allocations:
- National Bureau of Investigation: P175.4 million
- Bureau of Immigration: P20 million
- Office of the Solicitor General: P10 million)