INQToday: Roque threatened with contempt citation after clash with Hontiveros

Here’s a quick roundup of today’s top stories:

The National Security Council (NSC) countered China’s claim regarding the latest West Philippine Sea resupply mission, stressing the voyage continued without asking permission from Beijing.

In a Bagong Pilipinas Briefing in Malacañang, NSC Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said the assertion of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs that “China had been informed of the resupply before it was carried out” is not true.

The Office of the President (OP) has a P4.56-billion confidential and intelligence fund (CIF) allocation for the proposed 2025 national budget, which is equal to what the office got in 2023 and 2024.

Documents released by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on Monday, particularly the Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing for Fiscal Year 2025, showed that the OP got a P2.310-billion intelligence fund and P2.250 billion for confidential expenses.

DBM submits proposed P6.3T national budget for 2025 to House

Deliberations on the P6.3 trillion proposed national budget for 2025 can now start since the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has formally turned over the National Expenditures Program (NEP) to the House of Representatives.

During a program at the Batasang Pambansa complex on Monday, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman and the DBM contingent handed over the NEP to lawmakers led by House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.

Suspended Bamban Mayor Alice  Guo was last sighted in Bulacan province, at least according to reports received by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

It has been two weeks now since the Senate issued an arrest order against Guo over her repeated failure to participate in the committee on women’s probe into her possible ties with illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos).

Roque threatened with contempt citation after clash with Hontiveros

Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque was threatened with a contempt citation after clashing with Sen. Risa Hontiveros during a Senate hearing on Monday.

“Atty. Roque, please be reminded to respect the chairperson,” Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said during the hearing of the Senate Committee on Women.

Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque denied “possession” of the raided house in Benguet, where two foreign nationals were arrested.

The recent law enforcement operation in Tuba, Benguet was meant to arrest a wanted Chinese woman linked to a Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) hub in Bamban, Tarlac.