Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo will remain as a Liberal Party (LP) member and will not be sanctioned over her controversial defense of the confidential and intelligence funds (CIF), LP President Edcel Lagman said on Saturday, Oct. 7.

“Rep. Stella Quimbo is still a member of the Liberal Party. The foregoing decision was unanimously reached by the ManCom of the Party, together with some district representatives, and Rep. Edcel Lagman, as President of the Party,” he said in a statement.

Lagman said no sanction shall be imposed on Marikina Congressman for her defense of the CIF of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) as well as the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF).

“The enduring tradition of the Liberal Party is to allow its members to take independent views on national issues in recognition of a member’s freedom of expression and dissent,” the LP President underscored.

It can be recalled that Quimbo, who sponsored the OVP’s budget for 2024, had a heated debate with Makabayan bloc lawmakers during the plenary debates last month.

She justified the transfer of the P125 million contingent fund of the Office of the President (OP) to the OVP for its CIF in 2022.

It was also the Marikina Congresswoman who pronounced that the OVP spent P125 million CIF in 11 days last year.