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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider DA told to give up P50M confidential funds intended to combat smuggling

DA told to give up P50M confidential funds intended to combat smuggling

Published Oct 5, 2023 10:55 am

Senators on Thursday, October 5 told officials of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to forego the P50-million confidential funds allocated to the agency under their proposed 2024 national budget.

Sen. Cynthia Villar, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, and Sen. Raffy Tulfo said the DA ought to surrender the P50-million funds which DA Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban said will be “solely for enforcement and smuggling.”

“Please surrender the money and just give it to other agencies that needs it, like the (Philippine) Coast Guard. They will need it because we constantly face problems in the West Philippine Sea,” Tulfo said in Filipino during the Senate Finance subcommittee hearing on the DA’s proposed budget for next year.

Villar also pointed out the DA would be merely duplicating the functions of law enforcement agencies tasked to combat smuggling activities if they would be given the confidential funds.

“The enforcement agency against smuggling and cartel would be coming from the law enforcement agency, not DA,” Villar reasoned out.

According to DA Assistant Secretary for Inspectorate and Enforcement James Layug, the agency was given the P50-million confidential fund allocation when the National Expenditure Program (NEP) was released.

But Tulfo said the DA should just return the money: “If it was given to you and you don’t need it, then just return it.”

“Anyway, the PNP (Philippine National Police) is there. The Bureau of Customs (BOC) is also there to combat smuggling,” he pointed out.

“Just cancel it. You don’t need confidential funds. P50 million is P50 million. That’s a lot of money,” the senator reiterated.

When Layug tried to convince the Senate panel that the DA would need the confidential funds, Villar interjected saying she doesn’t want to argue with Tulfo regarding the DA’s confidential funds and told the DA to be creative in how they can perform their mandate without the need for such allocation.

“You just follow him in what you will do with the P50 million. I don’t want to be answering Senator Tulfo because of your P50 million allocation,” she said.

“You be creative and give him the benefit of having that P50 million realigned. I’m just being practical,” she added.

Related Tags

Cynthia Villar 2024 national budget Confidential funds Raffy Tulfo Department of Agriculture
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