THE government budget for confidential and intelligence funds in 2025 declined by 16 percent compared to this year, according to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
“Yes. So, our total Confidential and Intel Funds for next year, for 2025, bumaba po siya ng 16 percent,” DBM Secretary Amenah Pangandaman told a press briefing in Malacañang on Thursday.
“It is from 12.378 billion pesos in 2024 sa GAA (General Appropriations Act) and then now, iyong proposal po namin, it’s only ten billion, two hundred eighty-six million point ninety-one – iyon po,” Pangandaman said.
According to the Budget Secretary, a number of government agencies received large confidential or intelligence funds.
Getting the biggest amount is the Office of the President (OP) at PhP4.5 billion.
This was followed by the Department of National Defense, which took PhP1.8 billion. The fund is to be divided between the Office of the National Defense Secretary (PhP147 million) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (PhP1.7 billion).
Next is the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), which received PhP906.6 million. The fund is divided among the Office of the DILG Secretary and the Philippine National Police (PNP).
After DILG is the Department of Justice (DOJ), which got PhP579.4 million. The fund is to be divided among the Office of the DOJ Secretary, Bureau of Immigration (BI), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG).
The Budget Secretary also said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) received PhP18 million, while the Department of Transportation (DOTr) got PhP405 million.
Pangandaman said other executive offices also received a total of PhP1.8 billion. The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) got PhP7.5 million; Games and Amusement Board (GAB), PhP4 million; National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), PhP991.2 million; National Security Council (NSC), PhP250 million; Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity (OPAPRU), PhP60 million; and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) at PhP500 million.
Other agencies that received smaller confidential funds include the Commission on Audit (COA), Office of the Ombudsman, and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Pangandaman added.
About the Author
