The Senate has no ₱331 million in confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs) for its budget this year, Senate Secretary Renato Bantug Jr. clarified on Tuesday, Oct. 11.
"The Senate categorically denies the reports circulating on social media that the upper chamber has confidential funds of ₱331 million for the year 2023," he said in a statement posted on the Senate's official Facebook page.
Bantug added that the "social media posts are deliberately misleading maliciously presented some personalities who seek to malign and tarnish" the Senate's reputation.
The Senate Secretary contended that the record shows that the amount of ₱331,942,000 was allocated for "Extraordinary and Miscellaneous Expenses", and not "confidential funds nor intelligence funds."
"The ₱331.9 million in the Senate's "Extraordinary and Miscellaneous Expenses" are used, among others, for meetings, seminars, conferences, public relations, and other activities of the chamber," he said.
All confidential funds allocations in the past Senate leadership "were never used and were reverted to the National Treasury in full," according to Bantug.
He asserted that Senate President Juan Miguel 'Migz' Zubiri remained firm that the upper chamber does not need CIFs, and that these should instead be allocated for military, police, and other uniformed personnel who protect the country "from both internal and external security threats."
Bantug said the Senate's select oversight committee on confidential and intelligence funds "will continue to examine the CIFs of government agencies under a rigorous lens of scrutiny and re-align them accordingly to those who really need them."
The lower chamber first denied that it had no CIFs in 2023, saying that this was fake news.
"Wala pong confidential funds angd Congress, yung sinasabing ₱1.6 billion ay extraordinary expenses. Ang heading ay confidential, intelligent, and extraordinary. Magkaiba iyong confidential sa extraordinary, 'yung extraordinary ay full auditable which is different from confidential. At ang Congress way walang confidential," House Committee on Appropriations senior vice chairperson and Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo explained during a press briefing on Tuesday.
"In short, fake news," House Appropriations Chair and Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy Co said.
