Senate President Win Gatchalian on Thursday flagged P10.7 billion in confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) under the proposed 2027 national budget, warning that such allocations could be vulnerable to abuse.

During the Senate Finance Committee’s opening budget hearing, Gatchalian said confidential funds should be limited to agencies with legitimate surveillance and enforcement functions.

“The confidential funds should only be given to enforcement agencies or agencies with legitimate surveillance activities. Just because they want to doesn’t mean they can ask for confidential funds,” Gatchalian said.

The proposed P7.2-trillion budget includes P4.3 billion in confidential funds and P6.4 billion in intelligence funds, down 8.8 percent from the P11.8 billion allocated under this year’s General Appropriations Act.

Budget Secretary Kim Robert de Leon said the Department of Budget and Management had rejected some agencies’ requests for confidential funds during the preparation of the National Expenditure Program.

Palace has biggest

“The DBM has filtered out because we seriously have to consider their mandate,” De Leon said, adding that expenses that could be covered by regular budget items were redirected to those line items.

Gatchalian said the Senate would conduct its own review of the proposed CIF allocations.

The Office of the President has the largest proposed confidential fund at P2.25 billion, followed by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency with P500 million and the Department of Justice with P364.85 million.

The issue has drawn scrutiny amid the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte. Her office spent P125 million in confidential funds in December 2022, of which P73.3 million remains subject to a Commission on Audit notice of disallowance.

Under budget rules, confidential funds are intended for surveillance activities supporting civilian agencies’ mandates, while intelligence funds are reserved for operations involving national security.