Solons aligned with VP Sara on CIF—Speaker

Speaker Martin Romualdez on Friday said there was no quarrel between the House of Representatives and Vice President Sara Duterte, after lawmakers said they would redistribute confidential funds sought by the offices she leads to agencies that have a direct national security function.

“I think people are reading too much into it. I think it’s very, very straightforward and simple and intelligence funds) topic all came up and there were a lot of discussions and debates in the House and in fact even in the Senate,” Romualdez said.

“Borrowing the words of the vice president that she could live without it and she would leave it to the sound discretion of the Congress for its proper disposition, under the circumstances, we felt that it would best be realigned to the agencies” that deal directly with national security, he said.Congress is reviewing the confidential funds of all civilian agencies in the proposed 2024 national budget, and is not singling out any office, he added.

In a speech this week, Duterte, who is also Education secretary, said anyone who opposed the P650 million in confidential funds requested by her two offices was an “enemy of the people.

”She also said the funds would be used to “ensure peace and security.”

But lawmakers noted that the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), which must guard the country’s waters against foreign intrusions, has an intelligence budget of only P10 million – or 65 times less than the confidential funds requested by the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education.

“We are all for peace and security,” Romualdez said. “We are all for that. We are in total agreement that the utilization of confidential and intelligence funds is to promote peace and security.

”But Romualdez said they also wanted to make sure that confidential and intelligence funds are more properly used by agencies and departments “that are best suited, particularly in these aspects of deploying the proper resources and personnel for the promotion of peace and security.”

Duterte, however, drew support from Senator Ronald dela Rosa, who was chief of the national police under her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Dela Rosa accused