The confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education totaling P650 million have yet to be transferred to security and intel agencies.

Lawmaker Johnny Pimentel of Surigao on Thursday disclosed in an interview that the multi-million CF initially allocated to the OVP and DepEd remains within the purview of Vice President Sara Duterte, who governs the two agencies.

Duterte sought P2.395 billion for OVP and P758.6 billion for DepEd in the proposed 2024 budget, including P500 million and P150 million in confidential funds, respectively.

"At the moment [the OVP's and DepEd's CF is] not yet [transferred] because of time constraints. The budget was passed last night. The confidential funds allocated in each agency [are] still intact," he said.

"However, there will be a small committee of four that will tackle the proposed amendment. It could be done there, or it could be done during the bicameral conference," he said.

Pimentel was one of the party leaders in the House who decided to realign Duterte's P650 million to agencies involved in security and intelligence, such as the Philippine Coast Guard, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, National Security Council, and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources amid China's persistent assertiveness in the West Philippine Sea.

The most recent was the installment of a floating barrier in Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough shoal off the coast of Zambales by the Chinese Coast Guard.

The Senate leadership, according to Pimentel, concurs with the House's proposal and has expressed willingness to reallocate such funds to other agencies that most need them.

"If you recall, Senate President Migz Zubiri also issued a statement that they will follow suit or follow the direction of the proposal of the lower house to reallocate the confidential intelligence funds," Pimentel said.

"So, this will be up for discussions during the bicameral conference meeting or probably during the deliberations in the Senate," he added.

The House leadership said it will reallocate Duterte's P650 million confidential funds following a consensus by the chamber's party leaders to augment funds for security and intel agencies to better safeguard Philippine territorial waters and guarantee Filipino fishermen rights and access to their traditional fishing grounds.

House committee on appropriations chairperson Elizaldy Co confirmed on Wednesday that the lower chamber agreed to eliminate the confidential and intelligence of several agencies and that the OVP and DepEd were the first to be identified to received the budget cuts.

"The country's safety and security are of paramount importance. To protect our territorial integrity from external threats, Congress is giving top priority to agencies directly in charge [of] protecting the country's safety and securing its borders," he stressed.

"As discussed, we will realign the confidential funds of various civilian agencies. Now is the time to give our intelligence community the means to perform their duties, especially in these pressing times when we're facing serious concerns in the West Philippine Sea," Co explained.

Marathon deliberations in the proposed P5.768 trillion budget for 2024 have led to intense debates in the House, particularly on the grant of multi-million confidential funds to numerous civilian agencies, including the OVP and DepEd, that have nothing to do with surveillance.

Last week's deliberations revealed that Duterte's office spent P125 million in confidential funds in 2022 in merely 11 days— not 19 days– as initially claimed by some opposition lawmakers.

The P125 million CF was part of the P221.42 million contingent fund of the OP transferred to the OVP in 2022, with the opposition claiming it was unconstitutional since there was no line item in the OVP's 2022 budget on confidential funds in the 2022 General Appropriations Act.