The Philippine government, under President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., plans to allocate less for intelligence expenses while slightly increasing confidential funds in 2025, despite Vice President Sara Duterte not receiving any confidential funds.
According to the National Expenditure Program submitted to Congress by the Department of Budget and Management, the government has set aside P5.9 billion for intelligence expenses, down from P8.267 billion in 2024. However, confidential expenses are slightly up to P4.36 billion from this year’s P4.111 billion.
The Office of the President will maintain its confidential expenses at P2.25 billion and its intelligence expenses at P2.310 billion, unchanged from 2024.
Notably, the Department of Education, which Duterte previously led, will have no confidential funds for 2025. Other departments, such as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Finance, will also maintain their confidential expenses at P13.95 million and P79.5 million, respectively.
The Department of Interior and Local Government will reduce its intelligence expenses to P806.02 million from P906.029 million, while keeping its confidential fund at P100.6 million. The Department of Justice will see an increase in confidential funds to P579.44 million from P373.441 million.
The Department of National Defense’s intelligence expenses will decrease to P1.761 billion from P2.8 billion, while its confidential expenses remain at P87 million. Similarly, the Department of Transportation will keep its intelligence and confidential funds at P400 million and P5 million, respectively.
Other executive offices will see a slight increase in confidential expenses to P1.172 billion from P1.171 billion, but a significant reduction in intelligence expenses to P640.2 million from P1.84 billion.
The Commission on Audit and the Commission on Human Rights will retain their confidential funds at P10 million and P1 million, respectively. The Office of the Ombudsman will receive P51.468 million in confidential funds, up from P1 million in 2024.
Additionally, the government will spend more on travel, allocating P24.359 billion in 2025, up from P21.843 billion in 2024. The Office of the President’s travel budget will slightly decrease to P1.054 billion from P1.148 billion.
