Statement of Malacañang on Confidential & Intel Funds Request of Office of Pres. Bongbong Marcos
MALACAÑANG – The Palace defended the P4.5 billion Confidential and Intel Funds request of the office of President Bongbong Marcos.
The National Expenditure Program or NEP for the 2026 proposed budget was already submitted by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to the House of Representatives for the budget deliberations. The executive department approved the P6.793 trillion proposed budget for next year.
According to Pres. Bongbong Marcos, the Philippines is poised to be a leader among the nations most especially the Asia Pacific region. He stressed that the country is on track on its Agenda for Prosperity. He called on the Congress to “swiftly enact” the 2026 proposed budget.
Marcos Jr. also called on the Congress for cooperation for the fulfillment of the goal for a Bagong Pilipinas. Here are the budget appropriations for the different key departments in the government:
- Department of Education (DepEd) — P928.5 billion
- Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) — P881.3 billion
- Department of Health (DOH) — P320.5 billion
- Department of National Defense (DND) — P299.3 billion
- Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) — P287.5 billion
- Department of Agriculture (DA) — P239.2 billion
- Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) — P227.0 billion
- Department of Transportation (DOTr) — P197.3 billion
- Judiciary Department — P67.9 billion
- Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) — P55.2 billion
With regards to the proposed Confidential and Intelligence Funds for 2026, according to DBM, the proposed budget crafted by the executive department included the P10.77 billion CIF which is 11% lower compared to the P12.12 billion CIF. According to the budget department, P6.39-billion is set for intelligence expenses while P4.36 billion for confidential funds.
The office of Pres. Bongbong Marcos gets the lion’s share of the proposed Confidential and Intel Funds for 2026. OP is asking for P4.5 billion CIF for 2026. It earned different reactions from the people and Malacañang recently defended the office of Marcos Jr.
Malacañang press officer undersecretary Claire Castro stressed that the DBM itself said that the President is the commander-in-chief based on a report on Inquirer. Furthermore, the Palace official also said that Marcos Jr. is also the chief architect of the national policy and foreign policy as per the budget department. She stressed that the OP needs budget for it.
Based on the report, Atty. Claire Castro also reminded the public that confidential funds or money is not bad as long as it is used right. According to the Malacañang officer, confidential funds is only bad when it is used for corrupt activities.
”Ang tandaan po natin, ang confidential funds o ang pera ay hindi naman masama kung ginagamit sa tama. Ang confidential funds or pondo ay nagiging masama kung ginagamit ng isang corrupt iyon lang naman po,” the Malacañang official said.
Aside from the P4.5 billion CIF, the office of Pres. Bongbong Marcos is also asking for P1 billion budget for local and foreign trips for 2026.