Senate panel passes P8.9-billion 2023 budget for Office of the President

MANILA, October 13 ------ It only took less than two hours for the Office of the President to woo members of the Senate finance committee to get approval for its proposed P8.9 billion budget for the year 2023.

The amount is higher than this year's P8.1-billion appropriation received by the OP from the national budget. Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin at the hearing explained their requested budget increase. "The proposed OP budget of P8.969 billion net of the retirement and life insurance pension components will support programs and projects that will enable the president to deliver his constitutional mandate," Bersamin pointed out.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III, however, noticed the P50 billion dedicated to the OP's Confidential and Intelligence Funds." Pimentel stressed that prior to the OP's budget approval, the committee had also approved the Presidential Management Staff's proposed P863.7 million proposed appropriation for 2023.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com