Sen. Imee Marcos denied Wednesday allegations that she withheld P13 billion in the Department of Social Welfare and Development budget intended for Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program beneficiaries and the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program.

In a statement, Marcos said DSWD officials admitted during the September 2022 hearings for the GAA 2023 budget that only 45% of the 4Ps budget had been spent, with a single quarter to go.

"In order to avoid the threatened return of the unspent 4Ps allotment, I recommended that the balance of PhP8 billion instead be realigned to quickly implementable DSWD projects - so it was divided among supplemental feeding, KALAHI-CIDSS, Quick Response Fund for disasters, and AICS," she said.

"Thus the P8 billion from the 4Ps was saved and benefited countless marginalized sectors. Meanwhile, Listahanan 3 was finalized, thus updating the 4Ps directory halted by the pandemic."

She said she recommended a P5 billion allocation for the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program of DSWD in the Senate version of the budget "but the bicameral removed it for lack of fiscal space post-Covid."

"Those two amounts - PhP8 billion plus PhP5 billion - are perhaps what some befuddled members are referring to."