By Isabella Magno

The Senate approved the proposed Php 8.9-billion budget of the Office of the President (OP) for 2023, including Php 4.5-billion in confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) last November 10.

Prior to the funding’s approval, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III requested the OP to justify the necessity for the Php 4.5-billion CIF, which accounts for over half of their office’s total budget.

“Why should the Office of the President be given intelligence funds at 2.25 billion pesos 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 asked as he affirmed it was “questionable” to give that funding to the OP.

On the other hand, sponsor of the proposed 2023 national budget and Finance Committee Chairperson Senator Sonny Angara defended the OP, saying that as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and chairman of the National Security Council, the president “needs access to good intelligence or information for the whole country”.

Angara further stated that this was the first time the minority bloc questioned the allocation process of the Senate.

He then mentioned that the CIF is not new for the OP since it has been present since 2010, even pointing out that the president did not ask for additional funds. 

Before the discussion ended, Pimentel said he will strive to reduce the CIF rendered for the OP for next year’s budget, although he “expects to be defeated”.

The president requested the same amount of CIF as former President Rodrigo Duterte; however, the budgets given to both administrations differ significantly from that asked by their predecessor, the late Benigno Aquino III, who only proposed an amount of Php 500 million.

Thumbnail from Manila Bulletin