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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'The right thing to do': Tingog Party-list backs House's realignment of confidential funds 

'The right thing to do': Tingog Party-list backs House's realignment of confidential funds 

Published Oct 18, 2023 02:54 pm

At A Glance

  • House Deputy Majority Leader and Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre stressed that the House of Representatives did the "right thing" when it realigned P1.23 billion worth of confidential funds into enforcement agencies patrolling the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

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House Deputy Majority Leader and Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre stressed that the House of Representatives did the “right thing” when it realigned P1.23 billion worth of confidential funds into enforcement agencies patrolling the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

"Congress, in the exercise of its power of the purse, has chosen to do the right thing by realigning confidential funds to agencies whose primary mandate relate to military intelligence and security, especially in the West Philippine Sea," said Acidre in a statement on Wednesday, Oct. 18.

P650 million of the realigned funds were originally intended for the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd).

Both OVP and DepEd are under Vice President Sara Duterte, daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte.

Triggered by the realignment of confidential funds, the elder Duterte went on a tirade lasf week on television network Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI), where he alleged that the House has unlimited “pork barrel”.

He even urged the Commission on Audit (COA) to examine the lower chamber’s spending of public funds.

Despite these statements from the ex-president, Acidre noted that the House has a “spotless record” with COA.

"The [COA] has already certified that there has been no incident of fund misuse in the House of Representatives...Instead, the House has posted a budget surplus of ₱4.69 billion in its 2022 allocations, an increase of ₱2.05 billion, or around 78%, compared with the excess funds in 2021 of ₱2.64 billion based on official COA reports," Acidre said.

Acidre even quoted a statement from House Secretary-General Reginald Velasco that stated, “Ibig pong sabihin, pasado kami sa COA audit (That means, we passed the COA audit)."

Similar to his colleagues who showed support to House Speaker Martin Romualdez, Acidre credited the former for his “prolific performance” as a leader.

"Speaker Martin Romualdez’s strong leadership has made it so for the House of Representatives, making the lower chamber a true House of the People," he said.

"I stand with the House of Representatives. I stand with Speaker Martin Romualdez," he added. --Dexter Barro II

Related Tags

Tingog party-list jude acidre Confidential funds
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