The Senate Committee on Finance on Monday, September 4 approved the proposed P2.3-billion budget of the Office of the Vice President for 2024, including its controversial P500-million proposed allocation for confidential and intelligence funds.

Vice President Sara Duterte attends the Senate Finance Subcommittees A and D hearings on the proposed 2024 budgets of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) Monday, September 4, 2023. During the committee hearings, Duterte defended the inclusion of the confidential funds in the budgets of the DepEd and OVP. (Senate PRIB Photo)

Vice President Sara Duterte was present during the hearing and defended her office’s proposed budget including the CIF, and clarified that their request for such funds would be used for the “safe, secure and implementation of the projects, programs, activities and engagements and all of the satellite offices, including the central office of the Office of the Vice President."

“There is no redundancy or duplication of effort, because we have different mandates from the other government agencies,” Duterte said in response to a question posed by Senate deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros.

Hontiveros had earlier questioned the necessity of granting the OVP with confidential and intelligence funds noting that it is a duplication of the mandate of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) which was established to direct, coordinate, and integrate national intelligence activities and this includes the collection of intelligence gathered from various sources.

The Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and other law enforcement agencies are also entitled to a CIF.

Duterte, however, did not disclose who would be the subject of the OVP’s intelligence gathering operations saying she could not divulge them but assured that “these are the stakeholders of the areas that are engaged with the OVP.”

The proposed CIF funds, she also said, would be used against “those who are perceived threats” in the programs of the OVP.

Responding to a question posed by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, the vice president also said that their proposed CIF budget would be used in the crafting of policy recommendations in her capacity as co chair of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

“I mainly rely on the resources of the Office of the Vice President with regard to my work in the NTF-ELCAC…I cannot speak for the NTF-ELCAC but as co-vice chair, I rely mainly on the resources of the OVP when I do my work and when we do our discussions in the NTF-ELCAC,” she said.

During Hontiveros’ questioning, Duterte said she also discharges the functions and duties of the secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd), on top of being tasked by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to co-chair the NTF-ELCAC.

“In addition to that, I also took on the role of president of the Southeast Asian Ministers, Education Ministers Organization (SEAMEO). And all of these activities use confidential funds,” the vice president said.

Nevertheless, Duterte said the OVP’s proposed CIF are used in accordance to the Commission on Audit (COA)-Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Joint Circular No. 2015-01.

Section 3.7 of the circular refers to the lump-sum amount provided as such in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for non-government agencies, in appropriation ordinances for local government units (LGUs), and the Corporate Operating Budget (COBs) for Government Owned and Controlled Corporation (GOCCs) for their confidential expenses.

“The law does not enumerate the national government agencies that can request or cannot request for confidential funds,” Duterte pointed out.

After an hour and a half, the Senate finance panel, chaired by Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, approved the OVP’s proposed budget for next year after Senators Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa and Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada made a motion to approve the DBM’s recommended budget of P2.385-billion for the OVP, which is 1.22 percent higher than its 2023 budget.

“Thank you to the Vice President and the OVP for your presentation and answering the questions very patiently. Of course, I join my colleagues in commending the Office of the Vice President for the good work it has been doing,” Angara said.