The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is seeking P200 million in confidential funds for the 2027 budget, citing substantive arrest operations from the Ombudsman.

The DILG’s confidential funds saw a reduction from P300.6 million in this year’s budget to P100.60 million for 2027, as recommended by the Department of Budget and Management under the National Expenditure Program. 

“We requested for an additional P200 million largely because of the large amounts of work that the Ombudsman has passed down to us to arrest so many people,” DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla told the Senate committee on finance hearing the national budget on Thursday. 

Panel chair JV Ejercito told Remulla that since the Senate will strictly reserve confidential funds for agencies involved with intelligence and surveillance operations, investigations, and national security, the DILG would be entitled to such, though he did not commit whether they will grant the augmentation.

Senators have raised concerns about the weakness and abuse in confidential funds as they hear the evidence in the ongoing impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, who is being accused of misusing P612.5 million in confidential funds allocated to her office (P500 million) and the Department of Education (P112.5 million)—which she concurrently headed—in late 2022 and 2023.

Of P300.6 million in DILG’s confidential funds this year, the agency has already utilized 70 percent as of September. Remulla assured that the remaining funds will be fully utilized by the end of the year as mandated by the law, given the prevalence of loose firearms nationwide.

“We continue to use it especially for our enforcement and intelligence gathering, especially since we are already proposing the repeal of the Robin Padilla Law,” the DILG chief told senators. 

He was referring to Republic Act 8294, passed in 1997, that lowered penalties and made illegal possession of firearms a bailable offense. 

At present, the estimated number of loose firearms stands at approximately 2 million, and these unregistered weapons are linked to 98 percent of crimes in the country, according to Remulla.

The DILG urged the senators to amend the law by reclassifying the illegal possession of firearms as a non-bailable offense to finally put an end to the recurring cycle where the offender could simply reoffend, provided that he or she could post bail. 

Remulla said many of the offenders are recidivists.

The DILG’s proposed budget for 2027 saw a 7.10 increase from P310.5 billion in this year’s budget to P332.5 billion.

The biggest chunk will go to the Philippine National Police at P242.5 billion, followed by the Bureau of Fire Protection at P36.2 billion and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology at P31.3 billion.