Rappler.com-Sept 2
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is asking for a budget of over P9 billion for the Office of the President (OP) in 2023, including over P4.5 billion in confidential and intelligence funds. The OP is set to present its proposed 2023 budget before the House appropriations committee on Friday, September 2. While Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez is set to defend the proposed budget on the President’s office’s behalf, tradition dictates that he’ll hardly need to answer any questions. The House, typically dominated by a supermajority allied with whoever is president, usually approves the President’s proposed budget with nary a hitch at the committee level. It’s considered a courtesy of one branch of government to another. Under the proposed 2023 National Expenditure Program, the President’s office is asking for P9.03 billion. Like his predecessor, former president Rodrigo Duterte, Marcos wants P4.5 billion earmarked for the OP’s confidential and intelligence funds. Under his office’s regular programs, P4.895 billion is intended for the “oversight management on national security concerns.” It’s a slight increase from the budget Duterte asked for the same program in 2022: P4.84 billion. What are intelligence and confidential funds used for? According to the Commission on Audit (COA), intelligence expenses are “those related to intelligence information gathering activities of uniformed and military personnel, and Intelligence Practitioners that have direct impact to national security.” Confidential expenses, meanwhile, are used in “surveillance activities in civilian government agencies that are intended to support the mandate or operations of the agency.” Read more at: https://www.rappler.com/nation/marcos-jr-proposed-confidential-intelligence-funds-2023-budget/
