DBM: 2025 budget's confidential, intel fund down 16% to P10.2 billion

The Confidential and Intelligence Fund (CIF) allocation in the proposed P6.35 trillion 2025 national budget was reduced to P10.2 billion compared to the 2024 budget's P12 billion, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said on Monday.

"From P12 billion in the 2024 GAA (General Appropriations Act), the one we submitted now under the 2025 National Expenditure Program is P10.2 billion," said Pangandaman, as the Department of Budget and Management submitted the proposed 2025 national budget to the House of Representatives.

"This is a decrease of 16%," she added.

Pangandaman said the P10.2 billion total CIF allocation under the proposed 2025 budget was also lower than the combined P11.39 billion CIF that various government agencies requested.

Based on the Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing (BESF) for 2025 uploaded on the DBM website, more confidential funds of the CIF were allocated to government agencies for the coming year - P4.368 billion, up from P4.111 billion in 2024.

The DBM maintained that only offices that needed confidential funds would receive it.

As for the intelligence portion of the CIF, the DBM allocated P5.917 billion, lower than the P8.267 billion for 2024.

“Kaya po siya bumaba [ang CIF to P10.285 billion from 2024's P12.378 billion], we just limited it to the departments and agencies na nangangailangan ng confidential and intel funds,” Pangandaman said in a press conference in Manila City.

(It got reduced because we just limited it to the departments and agencies that needed confidential and intel funds.)

In 2024, several government agencies sought CIFs, but these proposals were either dropped by the departments or Congress during the budget deliberations.

Among the agencies that have a CIF this year, the Defense Department received the largest allocation of P1.8 billion, of which P1.7 billion went to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and P147 million was earmarked for the Office of the Secretary.

The National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) received the second largest allocation of P991 million.

The CIF for the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) was P906 million, which includes P100 million for the Office of the Secretary and P806 million for the Philippine National Police (PNP).

The Department of Justice (DOJ) will also get P579.4 million, with the bulk going to the Office of the Secretary. This allocation would also cover the CIFs for the Bureau of Immigration (BI), the National Bureau of Immigration (NBI), and the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG).

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) will have P405 million in CIFs for 2025, with P400 million going to the Philippine Coast Guard amid the recent tensions at the West Philippine Sea.

Other agencies which received CIF under the proposed 2025 budget include the following:

• Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency with P500 million
• National Security Council with P250 million
• Department of Finance (covering Bureau of Customs and Bureau of Internal Revenue) with P79.5 million
• Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity with P60 million
• Office of the Ombudsman with P51 million
• Commission on Audit with P10 million
• Anti Money Laundering Council with P7.5 million
• Games and Amusements Board with P4 million
• Commission on Human Rights with P1 million, among others.

DBM principal economist Joselito Basilio earlier said the CIF allocation for 2025 would be similar to what was implemented under the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Budget priorities

Speaker Martin Romualdez, for his part, said the proposed 2025 budget will prioritize job creation, quality education, expanded health care and social protection.

“The proposed budget is reflective of our dreams to improve the lives of Filipinos,” Romualdez said during the budget submission ceremony.

The proposed 2025 budget has allocated P114.2 billion budget for the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) or the conditional cash transfer for the poorest households, but Romualdez said Congress will be working on increasing the budget for the said item as well as other social protection programs.

“As we receive this document today, we recognize the collective responsibility bestowed upon us as legislators to scrutinize, deliberate, and ensure that every peso is judiciously allocated and spent, and that it will go to programs that greatly benefit the people,” he said.

“I am confident that with the collaborative efforts of the executive and legislative branches, we will achieve a budget that not only meets the immediate needs of our people but also sets the stage for a more prosperous and equitable Philippines,” Romualdez added.

The House intends to finish budget deliberations before the first recess this year of Congress in October. — DVM/RF, GMA Integrated News