Panukalang budget ng OVP at DepEd sa taong 2024, lusot na sa Senate Committee on Finance | 24 Oras
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Transcript
00:00 The Senate Committee on Finance has already passed the same budget in 2024 by the Office of the Vice President and Education Department led by VP Sara Duterte.
00:12 That is despite the minoria's questioning of the confidential funds of the two offices.
00:18 And MAV Gonzales was able to point it out.
00:23 In the Senate Committee on Finance' hearing on the 2024 proposed budget of the Office of the Vice President earlier,
00:30 Senate Minority Leader Coco Pimentel believed that the Office of the President transferred P221.42 million pesos of its contingent fund to the office of Vice President Sara Duterte in December 2022.
00:44 It is questionable, said Pimentel, because it is not a line item or not listed in the 2022 national budget, which should be investigated, according to Senator Riza Hontiveros.
00:56 There was no line item for confidential funds or expenses for the OVP. And yet you're telling us now that you, the OVP liquidated a certain amount as confidential funds for the year 2022.
01:16 We requested confidential funds to the Office of the President as early as August 2022 and we were only granted the confidential funds on December 2022.
01:30 We requested it from the Office of the President and it was granted through the Department of Budget and Management.
01:37 I think the Department of Budget and Management can better answer the question of the transfer of funds from their source to the Office of the Vice President.
01:50 Minority Senators also requested 500 million pesos of confidential funds, which is requested as part of the 2.38 billion pesos budget of the OVP for 2024.
02:00 Hontiveros said that there are particulars that confidential funds can be used, such as obtaining information related to national security,
02:10 renting transportation for confidential activities and breaching illegal activities.
02:16 According to Duterte, the OVP will conduct surveillance if there is a report received from the public.
02:23 As an example, we did surveillance of complaints from constituents in Bulacan with regard to the selling of OVP assistance and the selling of Tupad projects.
02:41 We were able to apprehend the person and we were able to successfully prosecute the case and that person went to jail for 6 months.
02:56 But Hontiveros asked, isn't the work of intel agencies like AFP and PNP just being doubled?
03:03 Since last year, we left the intelligence to the experts, to the intelligence agencies of the government in the same way that the civilian agencies of the government,
03:14 whether OVP itself or even DepEd, they shop their mandates and their expertise.
03:22 Whatever we gather from our confidential funds and surveillance, we share it with mainly the armed forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police.
03:36 As well as they share as well intelligence information that they gather, which are not included in our database.
03:46 Lastly, VP Sara said that they are not forcing confidential funds.
03:52 But we leave it to the decision and discretion of the members of Congress who has the power of the purse to decide whether to grant confidential funds to our office.
04:06 We can only propose but we are not insisting. We can live without confidential funds.
04:11 But of course, our work will be much easier if we have the flexibility of confidential funds.
04:19 Despite the questions of the opposition, the Senate Committee approved the budget of the Office of the Vice President.
04:25 It also includes the confidential funds as a respect to the second highest official of the country.
04:32 In the discussion of the Department of Education, they also left the 150 million pesos of confidential funds.
04:40 Just like the OVP, can the DepEd live without this budget?
04:43 Yes, Your Honor. But of course, this will make our jobs easier also in protecting our learners and teachers as well as our non-teaching personnel if we have those funds, Your Honor.
04:55 The threats nowadays, whether it be recruitment or drug-related activities, it's quite alarming in our schools.
05:02 The DepEd budget is also approved by the committee.
05:05 For GMA Integrated News, Mav Gonzales, for Tutok, 24 Hours.
05:10 [news broadcast]