Citing the government’s limited resources, Senator Risa Hontiveros said confidential funds should only be for agencies that have intelligence mandates.
“There should indeed be a value for money and for every peso and cent, which is the responsibility of the government,” Hontiveros said as she aired her concern over the P500 million confidential funds being sought by Vice President Sara Duterte under the 2024 proposed national budget.
Aside from the CIF for the Office of the Vice President, Duterte is also asking for P150 million in confidential funds for the Department of Education which she also heads.
Both the proposed confidential funds for the OVP and the DepEd are larger than the proposed P101 million confidential budget of the Department of National Defense for next year.
“I really do not know in what way [it should be given] because the said offices should justify the confidential funds they’re asking,” Hontiveros said.
“We really try to be very professional about these issues. Like any family or household or like any company, we are not special in government [so as not to have accountability],” she added.
Hontiveros said confidential funds can be better and properly accounted for by departments or offices which have intelligence mandates, such as the Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Navy, and the National Intelligence and Coordinating Agency, among others.
Earlier, Hontiveros cautioned DepEd against using its confidential funds for surveillance operations on teachers and learners in a bid to stop alleged recruitment attempts of the New People’s Army in public schools.
Hontiveros noted that Duterte herself admitted during a Senate budget deliberation that “learners, and our teaching and non-teaching DepEd personnel” could be included in their surveillance operation.
Hontiveros said there should be greater transparency on the scope and extent of these surveillance operations, especially as they are poised to infringe on the special protections and rights held by children.