A House small committee decided to strip off the proposed confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) of five government agencies for 2024 and reallocated these to agencies in charge of ensuring national security.
In a press release issued on Tuesday, Oct. 10, House Appropriations Chair Elizaldy Co said the Office of the Vice President (OVP), Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Department of Agriculture (DA), and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will get "zero" in CIF.
"Responding to the call of times and the volatile situation in the West Philippine Sea, the small committee — as mandated by the House plenary — has decided to realign CIFs to agencies whose principal mandate is to gather intelligence and ensure the protection of our national sovereignty," Co said.
JUST IN: OVP, DepEd, DICT, DA, at DFA "zero" confidential funds sa 2024 | via RH 12 @milkyrigonan
— DZRH NEWS (@dzrhnews) October 10, 2023
REPORT: https://t.co/p6vVusTQu5 pic.twitter.com/XVimFbgfy6
The agencies that will be receiving the ₱1.23 billion in CIF are as follows:
- National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) - ₱300 million
- National Security Council (NSC) - ₱100 million
- Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) - ₱200 million
- Department of Transportation (DOTr) - ₱381.8 million
According to the House Appropriations Chair, the following agencies will instead receive fund for their Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE):
- Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) - ₱30 million
- DICT - ₱25 million
- DFA - ₱30 million
- Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) - ₱50 million
- DepEd's Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GATSPE) - ₱150 million
Last September, Congress have agreed to reallocate the CIF to agencies in charged of ensuring national security after the recent actions of China in the West Philippine Sea.
