THE budget for confidential and intelligence funds was reduced to P10.2 billion in the executive branch’s proposed 2025 national budget.
Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said in a press conference at the House of Representatives on Monday the proposed budget was 16 percent smaller than the P12.378-billion Confidential and Intelligence Fund (CIF) allocation for 2024.
Pangandaman, who attended the official submission of the National Expenditure Program (NEP) to the House, said the proposals for CIF that the DBM had received from various agencies totaled P11.39 billion, “but we approved only P10.29 billion.”
Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman talks to the media during a press conference in Manila, Monday, as she discusses the proposed 2025 National Expenditure Program. PHOTOS BY J. GERARD SEGUIA
Based on the copy of the proposed 2025 budget, the CIF allocation for the Office of the President (OP) was P4.56 billion.
Allocations for other government offices were:
– P1.8 billion for the Department of National Defense
– Over P900 million for the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency or NICA
– P806.03 million for the Philippine National Police
– P579.4 million for the Department of Justice
– P500 million for the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency
– P405 million for the Department of Transportation
– P250 million for the National Security Council
– P79.5 million for the Department of Finance
– P60 million for the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity
– P51.4 million for the Office of the Ombudsman
– P10 million for the Commission on Audit
– P7.5 million for the Anti-Money Laundering Council
– P4 million for the Games and Amusements Board
– P1 million for the Commission on Human Rights.
The Constitution requires the President to submit to Congress within 30 days “from the opening of every regular session, as the basis of the general appropriations bill, a budget of expenditures and sources of financing, including receipts from existing and proposed revenue measures.”
All appropriation bills originate in the House, but the Senate is allowed to propose or concur with amendments.
The proposed 2025 budget amounted to P6.352 trillion. The 2024 budget was P5.768 trillion.
The education sector had the biggest allocation, with P977.6 billion.
The proposed allocation for the public works sector was P900 billion, and the health sector was P297.6 billion.
Included in the allocation for the health sector is the P74.4 billion for the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), which was higher than this year’s P61.5 billion.
The proposed allocation for the interior and local government sector was P278.4 billion, and for the defense sector, P256.1 billion.
Speaker Martin Romualdez said he was “confident that with the collaborative efforts of the” government’s executive and legislative branches, “we will achieve a budget that not only meets the immediate needs of our people but also sets the stage for a more prosperous and equitable Philippines.”
He said the call for more funding for the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and other programs for poor Filipinos was “loud.”
Under the NEP, the proposed 2025 allocation for the 4Ps was P114.2 billion, higher than this year’s P106.3 billion.
The House intends to finish deliberations on the 2025 national budget before the congressional recess in October.
Romualdez led the ceremonies for the official submission of the NEP to the House.
House Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr. lauded President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for submitting the NEP three weeks ahead of the one-month constitutional deadline.
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