DOJ Part 2

FY 2027 Bureau of Immigration reductions: For FY 2027, the Bureau of Immigration reported cuts of PHP 673.476 million in maintenance and other operating expenses and PHP 1.227811 billion in capital outlay. These figures cover BI programs, including IT systems and completion of its new building. Rep. Mikaela Angela B. Suansing asked DOJ to prioritize possible restorations within limited fiscal space; Justice Secretary Fredderick A. Vida agreed to submit an agency-ranked list. The committee recorded no funding approval.

BI restoration priorities: BI Commissioner Joel Anthony M. Viado described the affected workplace, alien-registration, IT and building projects. Suansing asked the department to rank its requests, and Vida promised a list after consulting the agencies. BI sought restoration, but no particular item was selected for funding.

Enforcement, NBI resources, and agency-wide restoration priorities: Suansing identified cuts affecting anti-trafficking and OSAEC enforcement; Vida said they would enter DOJ's priorities. NBI Director Melvin Matibag requested higher hazard pay for agents, from PHP 4,000 to PHP 15,000, and resources for operations, equipment, vehicles and regional cybercrime laboratories. Suansing requested a consolidated, prioritized agency list before amendment review, and Vida committed to submit it. No formal motion or appropriation was recorded.

Recovered assets, inventories, and more than ₱70 billion in pending appellate cases: The archived video begins mid-answer. PCGG Chairperson Melchor Quirino C. Sadang said the Arelma and Swiss accounts had been recovered through Sandiganbayan summary judgments, while other assets had been surrendered through compromise agreements or recovered in other cases. Sadang said some corporations listed in litigation proved unregistered or non-operational and witnesses were no longer available, so PCGG candidly told the court it would present no further evidence in those instances. Rep. Antonio L. Tinio requested a consolidated report and inventory of recovered, unrecovered, and still-targeted assets. Sadang said PCGG maintained inventories, including current cases, and had about 67 cases pending in appellate courts valued at more than ₱70 billion, with the Office of the Solicitor General serving as counsel. Tinio restated the amount as roughly ₱70 billion in Marcos ill-gotten wealth still targeted for recovery, and Sadang agreed. The pending-case value was not a guaranteed recovery, and no case-by-case inventory appears in this surviving exchange.

Presidential appointment, institutional independence, and the budget rationale: Tinio established that PCGG was attached to DOJ and that Chairperson Sadang had been appointed by President Marcos, then asked whether pursuing Marcos ill-gotten wealth under that appointment was awkward. Sadang replied that it was awkward but remained the commission’s job; to the credit of the President and family, PCGG had not been pressured, had performed its duty independently, and had experienced no undue influence. Tinio then linked the still-pending recovery effort to PCGG’s appearance before the committee to seek the budget needed to continue it. The exchange stated no requested amount and did not independently test Sadang’s assurance of independence.

Conditional abolition, an expanded successor mandate, and civil forfeiture: Asked about proposals to abolish PCGG on the theory that its work was finished, Sadang supported abolition only if a new agency took over with an expanded mandate covering unlawfully acquired assets of all public officials, rather than only Marcos ill-gotten wealth. When Tinio offered flood-control cases as an example, Sadang pointed to civil forfeiture under Republic Act No. 1379: assets manifestly out of proportion to lawful salary and other legitimate income create a presumption of ill-gotten wealth and shift the burden to the public official to explain them. Sadang contrasted that route with criminal cases requiring proof beyond reasonable doubt and a paper trail, and described the Sandiganbayan’s Swiss-account and Arelma disposition as summary judgment based on the pleadings. On Arelma, PCGG Chairperson Melchor Quirino C. Sadang said the Philippine government sought enforcement of a foreign judgment in New York, had won the appeal, and was waiting to see whether the U.S. Supreme Court would act. Tinio closed by reiterating the request for a report summarizing PCGG’s continuing recovery efforts. No delivery date or express commitment to submit that report was recorded, and the successor body remained a policy proposal rather than an enacted reorganization.

Bureau of Immigration MOOE, systems, building, and restoration priorities: Suansing said the Bureau of Immigration stood out in DOJ's agency allocations and asked which GASS components had been reduced. BI Commissioner Joel Anthony M. Viado itemized the MOOE reductions: ₱3.403 million for a drug-free-workplace initiative, ₱18.871 million for EXPATS—the expanded alien registration system and nationwide alien mapping—and ₱651.202 million for locally funded IT systems and infrastructure. Viado also reported capital-outlay cuts comprising ₱951.531 million for IT systems and infrastructure across the main and support offices and ₱276.28 million for post-construction work on the new BI building. BI said it previously could not request the post-construction funding because DBM noted that the bureau had not yet moved into the building; BI had since moved recently and said the additional funding was needed. Suansing said the amount was substantial and would have to be prioritized within limited fiscal space. Justice Secretary Fredderick A. Vida agreed to submit a wish list in priority order after consultation with the agencies. The exchange did not approve any BI restoration or select which BI component would prevail.

Cuts to trafficking enforcement, OSAEC, and other law-enforcement priorities: Turning to the law-enforcement program, Suansing said activities treated as current priorities had received substantial cuts. She cited a 41% decrease for anti-trafficking-in-persons enforcement and a 59% decrease for OSAEC, calling it a LEDAC measure and noting that the OSAEC law had been amended. Vida said these items would be placed among the priorities, but the exchange supplied no restored amount, rank relative to other DOJ requests, or funding assurance.

NBI hazard pay, operating resources, and regional cybercrime capacity: Suansing noted a 42% reduction in NBI general administration and support services and asked what had been removed. NBI Director Melvin Matibag identified six desired restorations and described several: increasing agents’ hazard pay from ₱4,000 to ₱15,000; funding roughly 200–220 operations per month; upgrading drones and other equipment; pursuing ISO-related administrative capability; and buying additional unmarked vehicles because marked or red-plate vehicles could compromise operations. Matibag discussed COPLAN operating costs, but the source figures were unclear and no reconciled amount is stated in this digest. Matibag acknowledged NBI's previous-year budget-utilization record while noting that Congress had expanded its investigative mandate, especially for cybercrime. Matibag also said about eight in ten crimes were cyber-related, NBI shared CICC tools but wanted its own capability, and it sought regional cybercrime laboratories and monitoring support following shootings in Ateneo de Zamboanga and Tacloban. Suansing then cited a 71% anti-cybercrime reduction. No hazard-pay increase, equipment purchase, laboratory rollout, monitoring allocation, or reconciled COPLAN amount was approved.

Cross-agency cuts and the process for prioritized restoration requests: Suansing first noted that more than half had been cut from victims’ compensation. After the NBI exchange, she summarized further reductions across DOJ: 15% from the refugee and stateless persons protection unit, 13% from BuCor GASS, 12% from LRA GASS, 8% from OSG operations, 36% from PPA GASS, and 64% from PCGG less RLIP and the special account. She also identified an unspecified OGCC GASS reduction and OADR reductions in GASS and operations. She said the Budget Amendments Review Subcommittee would deliberate line by line on amendments for the GAB and asked agency heads to guide the committee with institutional amendment requests prioritized according to actual agency needs. She requested the comprehensive list within the week, preferably as soon as possible, so it could be consolidated before BARC deliberation. Vida committed to comply and submit a comprehensive listing with priorities per agency. Suansing said she would coordinate with Vice Chair Rep. Keith Micah "Atty. Mike" D.L. Tan and make a best effort to identify restoration items, while repeatedly qualifying that fiscal space was limited; she promised optimized allocation efforts and partnership, not restoration of every request. She closed by thanking DOJ and recognizing its law-enforcement work.