President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in one of the events at Malaca帽an Palace on September 2, 2024. PHOTO BY YUMMIE DINGDING/ PPA POOL
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� The Office of the President (OP) spent over P2.2 billion confidential funds (CFs) in 2023, similar to the amount the year before, the Commission on Audit (COA) reported.
Based on a 2023 audit report released this month, in total, the OP spent P4.57 billion in confidential, intelligence, and extraordinary expenses, higher than the P4.50 billion recorded in 2022.
Of this figure, P2.2 billion was used for confidential expenses, P2.3 billion for intelligence, and over P10 million for extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses.
COA explained that CFs under the OP are used for expenses related to 鈥渟urveillance activities in civilian government agencies intended to support the mandate or operations.鈥�
On the other hand, intelligence expenses 鈥渋s used to recognize the amount paid for expenses related to intelligence information gathering activities of uniformed and military personnel, and intelligence practitioners that have a direct impact to the national security.鈥�
Meanwhile, extraordinary expenses and miscellaneous expenses 鈥渁re used to recognize the amount paid for expenses incidental to the performance of official functions.鈥�
In a separate report, COA revealed that the Office of the Vice President spent P375 million in confidential expenses in 2023, almost triple the amount recorded the year before.