On the denial of OVP budget hike and the call to abolish CIF, defund OVP
KARAPATAN Public Information
PRESS STATEMENT
12 October 2025
References: Cristina Palabay, KARAPATAN secretary general, 09173162831
KARAPATAN Public Information Desk, 09189790580
On the denial of OVP budget hike and the call to abolish CIF, defund OVP
While KARAPATAN acknowledges the House of Representatives’ denial of the proposed hike of the budget of the Office of Vice President Sara Duterte for 2026, it would have been more logical for Congress to defund the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and to scrap all confidential and intelligence funds (CIF), including that of the Office of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The OVP had requested a budget of Php902 million for 2026, but Congress decided to maintain it at the 2025 level of Php733 million. For the second straight year, the OVP will also not be receiving CIF after exposés of her anomalous use of these funds.
The OVP has been a non-performing agency since Vice Pres. Sara Duterte has been spending most of her time in The Netherlands and other foreign countries trying to drum up support for her father, who is detained at the International Criminal Court’s Scheveningen Prison after being charged with crimes against humanity.
The total proposed CIF of the Marcos administration for 2026 is at PhP 10.77 billion, including PhP 4.5 billion for the Office of the President.
Confidential and intelligence funds are not just vulnerable to sticky hands of politicians, military and police. These are used to redtag, threaten, harass and possibly even effect illegal arrests, abductions and disappearances as well as extrajudicial killings. Continuing allocations for CIF enable violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, as well as the climate of impunity that exists under Marcos Jr.
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KARAPATAN is an alliance of human rights organizations and programs, human rights desks and committees of people’s organizations, and individual advocates committed to the defense and promotion of people’s rights and civil liberties. It monitors and documents cases of human rights violations, assists and defends victims and conducts education, training and campaign.