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'Lack of empathy': Pimentel blasts Marcos admin over P9-B confi, intelligence funds

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Job Manahan, ABS-CBN News 

MANILA — Senate Minority Leader Aquilino &quot;Koko&quot; Pimentel III on Saturday criticized the Marcos administration for its P9.2 billion confidential and intelligence funds, saying this shows &quot;lack of empathy&quot; over the real plight of ordinary Filipinos. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/08/03/23/how-did-marcos-admins-confidential-funds-grow-by-p120-m">Marcos admin&#x27;s intelligence, confidential funds for 2024 grew by P120-M: DBM</a></li></ul>Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman has confirmed there was a P120 million increase in the government&#x27;s intelligence and confidential funds, which could be attributed to the additional portions requested by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Presidential Security Guard, and the Anti-Money Laundering Council. &#x27;But Pimentel also raised questions on the priorities by President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. in the proposed P5.768-trillion National Expenditure Program (NEP), describing the allocation of such in the budget as a &quot;huge mistake.&quot; &quot;The allocation of P9.2 billion to confidential and intelligence funds while our fellow Filipinos in calamity-stricken areas suffer raises serious questions about the government’s understanding of the real needs and challenges faced by our country,&quot; the senator said. &quot;It only strengthens what I discussed during my contra SONA that the government failed to understand the situation at the household level,” he added. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/02/23/marcos-admin-seeks-over-p10-b-surveillance-confi-funds">Marcos admin seeks over P10 billion in surveillance, confidential funds</a></li></ul>He also noted the huge impact of recent typhoons to areas in Northern Luzon, which remained flooded up to this date. The confidential and intelligence funds, he said, could have been used for relief and rehabilitation efforts to affected areas. The social welfare department said a total o<a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/05/23/cost-of-assistance-for-egay-falcon-victims-hit-p275m-dswd">f 868,000 families</a> from 5,000 barangays in 12 regions were hit by the inclement weather in the past few weeks. “It shows the lack of empathy and understanding of the real needs of ordinary Filipinos,” said Pimentel.Pangandaman this week defended the confidential and intelligence funds, noting that its share to the national government is &quot;on a decreasing trend&quot; at just 0.176 percent for 2024 and 0.190 percent in 2023, 0.183 percent in 2022, 0.212 percent in 2021, and 0.235 percent in 2020. Based on next year&#x27;s proposed NEP, the proposed intelligence funds amount to P5.77 billion, compared to P5.217 billion in 2023 and P6.405 billion in 2022.Meanwhile, confidential funds in the 2024 NEP totaled at P4.864 billion, compared to P4.804 billion in 2023 and P3.864 billion in 2022.<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2747280" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

'It shows the lack of empathy and understanding of the real needs of ordinary Filipinos,' said Pimentel.

'Lack of empathy': Pimentel blasts Marcos admin over P9-B confi, intelligence funds

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'Lack of empathy': Pimentel blasts Marcos admin over P9-B confi, intelligence funds

Job Manahan,

ABS-CBN News

Published Aug 05, 2023 04:34 PM PHT

|

Updated Aug 05, 2023 05:47 PM PHT

Read More:

confidential funds

intelligence funds

Koko Pimentel

Marcos administration

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