Speaker Martin Romualdez on Thursday said that some of the government’s confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs) would be better used by agencies safeguarding the West Philippine Sea (WPS). Romualdez spoke to reporters in Makati City following his first trip to Pag-asa (Thitu) Island, the biggest of nine islands and reefs occupied by Filipinos in the West Philippine Sea, accompanied by Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy Co, who chairs the House appropriations panel, House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe and House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan. “We would like to make sure that the confidential and intelligence funds are most properly utilized by agencies and departments that are best suited particularly in these aspects of deploying the proper resources and personnel for the promotion of peace and security, so we feel that we have to look at the West Philippine Sea,” Romualdez told reporters.

Reyes, D. (2023, October 6). Some secret funds better used for WPS – Speaker. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A2.