Ombudsman Samuel Martires requested before the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) that their office's Confidential and Intelligence Fund (CIF) be reduced or removed, saying that the agency can survive without it.

According to Martires, the entire anti-graft body can operate the office even without the P51.5 million lump-sum allotment for CIF.

In response to Senate Majority Leader Koko Pimentel, Martires said that if the CIF will only stain the reputation of the Office of the Ombudsman, he is willing to remove it as he believes that they can survive without it.

He defended his agency’s budget request of P5 billion at the Senate, saying that he did not want the anti-graft body’s image to be tarnished by diving into the controversial CIF.

During the budget deliberation of the Senate, the Ombudsman said that their office has been receiving confidential funds that are used to investigate irregularities by government agencies since 2005.