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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'No brainer': Villanueva vows to fight for DICT's confidential funds

'No brainer': Villanueva vows to fight for DICT's confidential funds

Published Oct 11, 2023 06:29 am

Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva said on Wednesday, October 11 that he will fight for the confidential funds of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

This was after the agency was stripped of its confidential funds under the P5.768-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) or proposed national budget for 2024 of the House of Representatives (HOR). Also stripped were the Department of Education (DepEd), the Department of Agriculture (DA), and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

The "small committee" tasked to collate individual amendments of House members to the 2024 GAB recommended that a total of P1.23 billion in confidential funds be realigned in the budget measure.

For his part, Villanueva said that it's a "no-brainer" to empower the government's cybersecurity measures due to the rampant cybercriminal acts being perpetrated recently. He added that he was also convinced of this after an executive session with DICT officials.

"I can’t divulge the details of our meeting during the executive session, I am confident that I will be able to rally my colleagues to help DICT get the funding they need. At least decent ammo to fight cybercrimes, cyberattacks, etc," he said in a message to reporters.

Following HOR's move, Villanueva said that it would be their turn to look into all of the items in the budget.

"Am sure we will consider the work of our counterpart but as tradition dictates we have our own set of priorities, just like on my end for instance I want to see more programs focused on creating quality jobs, high-paying jobs, and elevating the competitiveness of our workforce, etc.," he said.

"As mentioned earlier we will scrutinize everything to ensure proud tayong lahat sa national budget na ating ipapasa bago magtapos ang taon," he added.

Villanueva also mentioned that they will check if the HOR has discovered anything that they have not.

Last month, the Senate formed a select oversight committee on intelligence, and confidential funds, programs, and activities. He said that they have already formed ground rules during the previous meetings and executive sessions which will make way for more fruitful discussions.

Villanueva also stated that there have also been preliminary talks with members of the Senate including the concerns of the minority block.

"We will respect each other’s position, hear their proposals and we decide as an institution," he added.

Related Tags

Department of Information and Communications Technology House of Representatives confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs) Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva
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