Critics now want OP’s P4.5B in secret funds slashed
MANILA, Philippines — Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III on Wednesday urged his colleagues in Congress to push further the drive against confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs) by slashing the P4.5-billion allocation for the Office of the President (OP) in the proposed national budget for 2024. Pimentel and other senators welcomed the scrapping of the CIF of various agencies by the House of Representatives in next year’s budget and transferring the funds to agencies directly in charge of national security. “We also have to reduce the (confidential funds) of the OP and also eliminate the (intelligence) funds of the OP as it is a civilian agency, which is not and should not be engaged in intelligence gathering considering the workload of the OP,” Pimentel pointed out. According to Pimentel, Congress should also include the CIF of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as he called on the executive branch to “leave [the sleuthing] to the specialists in the field of intelligence.” “If the OP is truly busy, then its manpower [or] personnel shouldn’t have time anymore for surveillance work and intel gathering,” he said. “Unless these people in the OP have too much time on their hands,” Pimentel added. But with the OP budget already endorsed by the finance committee on Wednesday, Pimentel would have to make his suggestion during the period of amendments, according to Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara. The P10.7-billion spending plan of the OP, nearly half of which is allocated as Mr. Marcos’ CIF, easily sailed through the deliberations of the Senate finance committee. Angara, who presided over the budget hearing as panel chair, ended the proceedings in just 20 minutes. “If there are no colleagues (to ask questions), that means they have a vote of confidence in your budget. So we will favorably endorse your budget for plenary consideration,” Angara told Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and the other OP senior officials. Period of amendments Speaking to reporters later, the senator said it was not uncommon for the Senate finance panel to swiftly conclude its deliberations if no senator would raise questions about the proposed budget of a state agency, citing the case of the Supreme Court and its attached units in the judiciary. “[Pimentel will] have a chance during the period of amendments as there is a process that we follow: from the committee, [the budget] goes to the plenary then the period of amendments,” he said. “Nothing
Disclaimer : We make no assurance about the completeness and accuracy of the content of this website. All news on this website is collected from various sources hence information may or may not be true. Money Nations does not verify the reliability of the content published. We do not accept any accountability for loss or damage occurred as a result of reliability on the content of this website.