The Office of the President (OP) spent P4.57 billion on confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) in 2023, making it the top spender in this category among all government units, according to a report by the Commission on Audit (COA).
Based on the COA Annual Financial Report, the CIF allocation of OP under President Ferdinand Marcos slightly increased last year to P4.57 billion from P4.51 billion in 2022.
COA defined CIF as “expenses related to surveillance/confidential activities in civilian government agencies that are intended to support the mandate or operations of the agency.”
Malacañang reportedly spent P2.2 billion for confidential expenses, P2.3 billion for intelligence expenses, and over P10 million for extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses.
Trailing the OP in CIF expenditures were the Department of Justice (P683.85 million), the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (P500 million), and the Office of the Vice President (P375 million).
The OVP’s confidential fund allocation surpassed those of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (P127.41 million), National Security Council (P90 million), and National Bureau of Immigration (NBI) combined, totalling P363.58 million. The CIF of the NBI was covered in the DOJ budget.
Vice President Sara Duterte, currently under scrutiny for alleged misuse of confidential funds during her leadership of the OVP and Department of Education, faces two impeachment complaints. She has denied any wrongdoing.
The OP also topped intelligence fund spending in 2023, accounting for P2.31 billion or 38.72 percent of the P6.03 billion total, the COA further reported.
Other agencies with significant intelligence fund allocations included the Department of National Defense (P2.25 billion) and the Philippine National Police (P936.6 million).
Overall, the government spent P10.44 billion on CIFs in 2023, up from P9.76 billion in 2022.
Both the Senate and House of Representatives had no CIF allocations last year.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “COA says Office of the President spent P4.57-b confidential funds in 2023.”