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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Purge 2023 budget of confidential, intel funds--Lagman

Purge 2023 budget of confidential, intel funds--Lagman

Published Oct 3, 2022 12:55 pm

Government agencies’ confidential and intelligence funds worth P9.29 billion must be “purged” from the P5.268-trillion 2023 national budget, Albay 1st district Rep. Edcel Lagman said.

Albay 1st district Rep. Edcel Lagman (Screencap from House of Representatives livestream)

These “unnecessary and excessive” funds dwarf the proposed budgets of entire government agencies, said the newly-installed Liberal Party (LP) President.

“This total amount is much bigger than the appropriations of many government offices and departments, including the constitutional commissions and offices,” Lagman said in a statement on Monday, Oct. 3.

READ: https://mb.com.ph/2022/09/28/lagman-says-op-confidential-intel-funds-dwarf-budgets-of-these-agencies/

He specifically pointed to the confidential and intelligence funds of the Office of the Vice President (OP) and the Department of Education (DepEd).

“No stretch of the imagination or flexibility of logic can justify the P500 million in the Office of the Vice President and another P150 million in the Department of Education, both under Vice President Sara Duterte,” he said.

READ:

https://mb.com.ph/2022/09/22/vp-duterte-leaves-it-to-house-to-decide-on-ovps-p500-m-confidential-fund/

https://mb.com.ph/2022/09/15/deped-urged-to-rechannel-p150-m-confidential-funds-to-learning-needs/

“The OVP is not a surveillance agency and has no jurisdiction over matters of national security... The novels of Agatha Christie and the exploits of Sherlock Holmes are not staple readings for basic education and the mandate of DepEd does not include detective activities,” the lawmaker said, citing two literary giants of the mystery genre.

“Since the utilization of confidential and intelligence funds are shrouded in mystery and the supposed audit by the Commission on Audit (COA) could not be disclosed to the Congress and the public, these funds breed corruption, and the more enormous the funds are, the greater the magnitude is for the possibility of graft,” Lagman concluded.

The Bicolano previously spoke about how the COA could not disclose the results of audits into confidential funds, given the nature of the funds.

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