Ombudsman asks Congress to reduce confidential funds to P1 million

Ombudsman Samuel Martires has asked both chambers of Congress to slash the P 51 million confidential and intelligence funds allocated to his office in the proposed budget for 2024.

“I would like to officially request that notwithstanding its investigative functions, that the Office of the Ombudsman be appropriated the amount of P1 million for its Confidential and Intelligence Fund (CIF) in Fiscal Years 2024 and 2025 or until the end of my term of office as Ombudsman,” Martires said in his letter addressed separately to House Appropriations chairman Rep. Zaldy Co and Senate Finance chairman Senator Sonny Angara.

A copy of the request letter was also furnished to the offices of Speaker Martin Romualdez and Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri.

“If it will only taint the reputation of the Ombudsman and its office, I am willing that this be scratched.. I think we can survive without confidential funds,” Martires earlier said during a Senate budget hearing last month.

“I would like to be the first from the investigating agencies to request Congress that [we will] not have confidential funds during [the rest of] my term of office,” added Martires, whose term as the country’s chief graft investigator will end in August 2025.

The House of Representatives earlier moved to realign P 1.23 billion in confidential funds from the Office of the Vice President (OVP), Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Department of Agriculture (DA) and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in favor of fund requirements of agencies in charge of ensuring national security, especially in the West Philippine Sea.

“If you just rely only on your confidential or intelligence funds for you to be able to investigate, you will not be able to function properly,” Martires said.