The proposed 2024 national budget for the Philippines has kept over P4 billion in confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) for the Office of the President (OP) intact, as reported by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III. Despite Pimentel’s proposal to cut these funds, he acknowledged the unlikelihood of any such reductions, while expressing concerns about allocating intelligence funds to a non-military agency like the OP.
The 2024 budget for the OP proposes P2.25 billion for confidential expenses and P2.31 billion for intelligence expenses. Notably, a special provision in the Senate’s budget version, proposed by Senator Risa Hontiveros, prohibits using contingency funds to augment confidential funds of civilian agencies. This amendment was influenced by a previous transfer of funds to the Office of the Vice President.
Several agencies, including the Office of the Vice President, Department of Education, and the Office of the Ombudsman, have either waived or requested reductions in their CIF. The total amount of CIF across all agencies for the 2024 budget amounts to P10.14 billion. The 2024 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) is now at the bicameral conference stage, where differences between the