No last-minute secret fund insertions in budget - Congress

There was no last-minute move by Congress to restore the P650million confidential funds (CF) in the budgets for next year for the office of Vice President Sara Duterte and the Department of Education, which she also heads.

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The appropriations committee heads of both houses of Congress, Sen. Sonny Angara and Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy Co gave the assurance at yesterday's bicameral conference committee on the 2024 General Appropriations Bill held at the Manila Golf and Country Club in Makati.

"I don't think so," Angara said on the sidelines of the meeting when asked if the P500 million CF for the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the P150 million for DepEd would be restored.

The odds are not in the Vice President's favor this time, unlike last year when the DepEd's CF for 2023 slashed to P30 million by the Senate was restored to its original P150 million level during bicam, supposedly to help DepEd protect children from syndicates and communist recruitment.