Intel funds top Senate agenda as budget amendments begin Monday

• Published date: 20 November 2022
• Publication title: Philippines News agency

The Senate begins the period of amendments Monday for the proposed PHP5.268-trillion National Expenditure Program of 2023, with confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs) to get the most scrutiny.

Senator Sonny Angara, chair of the Finance committee, said in a radio interview that disagreements will be resolved through nominal voting.

Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel previously said he will block the 'enormous' CIF allocation of the Office of the Vice President (OVP), Department of Education (DepEd), and Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), all of which did not secure such funds for 2022.

OVP asked for PHP500 million, DepEd for PHP150 million and the OSG PHP19.2 million for their CIFs.

Angara said he sees nothing wrong with the total PHP9.3 billion for CIFs because they are necessary for the agencies' needs but acknowledged there must be a consensus among his colleagues.

He said the agencies had their CIFs "at one point".

'Pag-aralan natin kasi hindi naman maganda na tanggalin natin ang sa OVP, eh ipinagkatiwala sa kanya ng Pangulo. Dahil...