Pimentel suggests itemized budget for PNP ops paid for by intel funds

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III on Tuesday suggested to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to include in its line-item appropriations the projects and programs funded yearly by confidential and intelligence funds, to improve transparency in the utilization of public funds.

The lawmaker made the suggestion while asking the DILG to justify the Philippine National Police's (PNP) proposed P806 million in intelligence funds.

Senator Sonny Angara, who has defended the DILG's proposed budget for 2023, said the intelligence funds for the PNP are intended to support:

• intelligence and counter-intelligence activities,
• purchase of information,
• monetary rewards,
• support for intelligence and counter-intelligence operations in anti-criminality campaigns through special projects like anti-terrorism, internal security operations, drug operations, anti-crime operations, and
• support for operations against organized crime groups and high-profile criminals and personalities whether here or abroad.

Further, Angara said the intelligence funds would support the operations of nine attachés: two in the United States and one each in China, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Indonesia, France, and Thailand.

At this point, Pimentel suggested itemizing the funding for recurring expenditures such as the support for attachés abroad.

"Some of them are recurring or too common an expense that maybe they deserve an actual line in the budget," Pimentel said.

"Itemize para lantad. Kita ng taumbayan na pagtingin, doon pupunta," he added.

Angara said the DILG is open to that suggestion—a response that was welcomed by the minority chief.

The Senate has approved at the plenary level the DILG's proposed P251.5-billion budget for 2023. — BM, GMA Integrated News