Minority calls out huge confidential funds in 2023 budget

MANILA, Philippines — Several lawmakers from the House of Representatives’ Minority bloc have called out the huge confidential funds in different offices in the proposed 2023 budget, saying that these could have been used for building classrooms and cash assistance.

During the plenary debates for the 2023 National Expenditures Program on Wednesday, Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman made a presentation showing that the government, for 2023, has asked P9.2 billion for its confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) — including the P4.5 billion allocation to the Office of the President (OP).

The CIF of the OP alone, Lagman said in his interpellation of the office’s budget, is…

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