Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel (Rep. Manuel's office)

The usually stoic Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel was visibly elated to learn Tuesday night, Sept. 19 that the Department of Tourism (DOT) had no allocation for confidential funds in the agency's 2024 budget. 

Not only that, but the DOT--through its budget sponsor, Isabela 6th district Rep. Faustino "Inno" Dy--bared that the agency neither had any interest nor plans to request for such funds in the future. 

"In past years or ngayong taon po ba, mayroon din? (How about this year or in past years, did you have confidential funds?)" the Makabayan solonl asked Dy during the plenary debate on the DOT's budget next year. 

"As far as I know, none po Mr. Speaker," said Dy. 

"May nakikita po bang circumstances ang DOT (Does the DOT see any circumstances) that might lead the agency to eventually request for confidential funds?" Manuel asked in a follow-up, to which the budget sponsor said, "No." 

"With that Mr. Speaker, I have no further questions," the youth solon said, much to the delight of the attending DOT officials. 

"Ang nais na lang natin ay i-resist ng DOT ang urge na mag-request ng confidential funds (What we want is for the DOT to resist the urge to request for confidential funds) and for it not to join the bandwagon of having confidential funds," said Manuel. 

Dy underscored that the mandate of the DOT was for the planning, implementation, and creation of programs for promoting Philippine tourism locally and internationally. 

"Mr. Speaker, kasi ngayon, usong-uso ang confidential fund (confidential funds are en vogue right now)," Manuel said. 

Confidential funds are a big talking point for the Makabayan bloc in the ongoing deliberation on the P5.768-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB). 

In particular, the militant solons have been asking the Office of the Vice President (OVP) to explain how it spent the P125 million worth of confidential funds that it received from the Office of the President (OP) last year.