Category Archives: Finance

Finance, Legislation

Sara Duterte’s Intelligence Funds Restored By House Of Representatives!

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MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – Just hours after the House of Representatives panel removed P1.23 billion in confidential and intelligence funds from the proposed P5.7-trillion budget for 2024, the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education, both headed by Sara Duterte, got their CIF back — in full!

The panel reconsidered its earlier decision after Duterte re-submitted her proposed budget and renamed the CIF line item to “Counter Intelligence Fund.”

The panel members didn’t see it coming. They had earlier thought that it has been made crystal clear that they were unanimously against the intelligence fund.

But when Duterte “reclassified” the fund as “counter intelligence” the panel members had no choice but to approve the resubmitted budget.

“We have countered the confidential and intelligence funds,” House Appropriations Committee Chairman Elizaldy Co said, “so by not approving the counter intelligence funds as resubmitted by the VP, we will be contradicting ourselves.”

Who would have thought that simple semantics could sway our lawmakers to approving one of the most controversial items in the 2024 national budget?

Finance, Media, Politics

Commentary: Confetti Numbers Rain On OVP’s Confidential Funds

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Ah, the delightful dance of numbers and timelines in the world of Filipino politics, where politicians and the news media twirl and whirl like a tango of confusion. Sara Duterte’s confidential funds during her Davao City mayoral reign have become the main act in this spectacle. It’s a “different strokes for different folks” extravaganza!

In one corner, you have politicians, eager to bamboozle the public with more numbers than a mathematician on a caffeine overdose. They make the national debt look like chump change, and you wonder if they’ve stashed away an infinite cookie jar of confidential funds.

On the other side, the news media performs its interpretative dance, attempting to decipher the cryptic timelines and figures. Are they playing 4D chess or just trying to out-puzzle the Rubik’s Cube?

It’s all part of the grand theater where numbers and timelines swirl like confetti, leaving the Filipino people in a state of perpetual befuddlement. And we’re left to wonder, is this really governance, or just a masterclass in sleight of hand?

Finance, National News

Congress Unanimously Approves OVP’s Confidential Funds With Just One Amendment!

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QUEZON CITY, Philippines ( The Adobo Chronicles, Quezon City Bureau) – In a rare cross-partisan vote never seen before in Philippine politics, the House of Representatives has unanimously approved the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) request for confidential funds under the next budget year.

With one tiny amendment – changing the term “confidential” to “anonymous” – lawmakers have brilliantly transformed the nation’s budgetary secrecy into an open secret.

Even the staunchest critics of opaque expenditures, like Gabriela’s Arlene Brosas, ACT’s France Castro and Kabataan Partylist’s Raoul Manuel couldn’t resist the allure of these “anonymous” funds and voted in favor. 

It seems that the allure of secrecy, or should we say “anonymity,” has a magical way of bringing politicians from all walks of life together. The people can rest easy knowing their tax pesos are safely concealed and in good hands!