Pimentel: OP's over P4B confi, intel funds for 2024 intact in Senate budget version

The Office of the President’s (OP) over P4-billion proposed confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) for 2024 remained intact under the Senate’s version of the national budget for next year, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said on Wednesday.

“Of course, no one dared to touch the CIF of the President,” Pimentel said in a Viber message when asked about his proposal to reduce the intelligence funds of the OP.

The Senate approved on third and final reading the bill containing the P5.768 trillion budget for 2024 on Tuesday.

During the plenary deliberations on the 2024 General Appropriations Bill (GAB), Pimentel said he has no problem with the allocation of confidential funds for OP as it is a civilian agency.

He, however, said he is not in favor of allocating intelligence funds to the OP because it is not composed of uniformed and military personnel, and the offices that are tasked to gather intelligence are already under its direct supervision.

Out of the P10.707 billion budget proposed by the OP for 2024, P2.250 billion is tagged as confidential expenses while P2.310 billion is tagged as intelligence expenses.

Meanwhile, Senate finance committee chairman Senator Sonny Angara confirmed that the chamber’s version of the 2024 budget bill adopted a special provision banning the use of contingency funds to augment civilian agencies’ confidential funds.

It was Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros who proposed such amendment to the 2024 GAB during the plenary debates, citing the transfer of P125 million contingency funds from the OP to the Office of the Vice President’s confidential funds in 2022.

Earlier, several agencies either waived or asked the Senate to reduce their CIFs, among them the Office of the Vice President, Department of Education, and Office of the Ombudsman.

According to GMA Integrated News Research, more government civilian agencies are now asking for confidential funds under their proposed budget for 2024.

Twenty-eight agencies have formally sought confidential funds in their 2024 budget, up from the 21 offices asking for such appropriation in 2016.

The Department of Budget and Management earlier said the total amount of confidential and intelligence funds across all agencies in the proposed 2024 budget is P10.14 billion, including P4.5 billion for the Office of the President (P2.25 billion confidential and P2.31 billion intelligence fund) and P500 million for the Office of the Vice President.

The 2024 GAB is now at the bicameral conference level where select congressmen and senators will reconcile the disagreeing provisions of the House and Senate’s versions.

Once reconciled, the final version of the GAB will be ratified in the House of Representatives and the Senate then it will be sent to Malacañang for the President's review and approval.

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno recently said that the President would likely sign the P5.768-trillion national budget for 2024 before his trip to Japan in December.

The ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation Commemorative Summit will happen from December 16 to 18. —KBK, GMA Integrated News