THE Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has returned a P500-million “insertion” in the intelligence funds of the Philippine National Police (PNP) for fiscal year 2025, according to Secretary Jonvic Remulla.
Remulla disclosed this during the Senate Committee on Finance’s deliberations on the proposed budget of the DILG and its attached agencies. While he did not identify the person who allegedly made the budget insertion, he hinted that it was someone “who requested 3,000 containers of fish,” potentially linking the issue to the recent controversy involving alleged attempts to force the Department of Agriculture (DA) to issue permits for fish imports.
Remulla emphasized that the DILG did not request the additional funds and therefore returned them to the Office of the President. The disclosure came in response to Senator Sherwin Gatchalian’s questioning of the decrease in the PNP’s intelligence funds from P1.3 billion in 2025 to P800 million in 2026. Remulla explained that the PNP only followed what was requested under the National Expenditure Program (NEP).
metrosundaily
