PCG, IACAT and others received an additional budget in the 2025 Senate version GAB—Hontiveros

On By Pranco

The Senate has approved supplementary budgets for the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) under the proposed P6.325 trillion budget for 2025, Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros said Thursday.

During the Kapihan sa Senado, Hontiveros said the PCG budget was increased by P100 million, while the IACAT budget was increased by P84.9 million.

“The final version of the Senate provided an additional P100 million intelligence fund for our Philippine Coast Guard (PCG). And to strengthen our fight against human trafficking, the Senate increased the IACAT budget by 84.9 million euros,” Hontiveros said.

Increasing IACAT’s budget, according to Hontiveros, “will be a huge help in our fight to put an end to POGO (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators) and other scams that Filipinos are falling victim to here and abroad.”

In the proposed 2025 budget, an intelligence fund of P400 million was set aside for the PCG. IACAT, on the other hand, was initially allocated P69.2 million.

Hontiveros said the Senate also increased the budget for the National Coordination Center against Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation and Child Abuse and Exploitation Materials by 32.7 million euros.

The Center currently has a proposed budget of P18.7 million.

Hontiveros and the Sumbungan Board, which deals with violations of the Anti-Hospital Deposit Act, also received an additional P5 million budget for its activities.

“We will ensure that the 2025 budget benefits the Filipinos and prioritizes their safety and health,” she said.

The MP appealed to her colleagues to restore the P10 billion budget for the Armed Forces of the Philippines modernization program called Horizon.

“I really hope we can fix it because Horizon 2 is already behind and there are projects under Horizon 1 that still need to be implemented. “Horizon 2 focuses on the West Philippine Sea and there are still many programs that have yet to be fully implemented and yet we are moving to Horizon 3,” she said.

“We need to catch up to establish a credible defensive posture,” she added.

The bicameral panel, composed of representatives of the Senate and House of Representatives, will meet soon to discuss the different versions of the approved 2025 proposed budget. —KBK, GMA integrated news