Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin on Tuesday cited the number of government agencies asking for confidential funds has increased, saying it has ballooned from 16 in 2012 to 28 this year.
Garin reminded agencies that requests for confidential funds must not be abused.
“Many have joined the fad, and that there have been abuses. If we look at the historical data, the jump started in 2017,” she told a Monday interview with ANC.
The lawmaker said she has submitted proposed amendments to the Small Committee convened by the leadership of the House of Representatives.
She is the vice chairperson of the committee on appropriations.
Garin underscored the urgency of reallocating confidential funds within agencies, such as the Department of Information and Communications Technology, Department of Transportation, Office of Transportation Security and Office of the Solicitor General.
She stressed the critical need to redirect such funds toward anti-smuggling campaigns while supporting the essential activities of the Philippine Coast Guard and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, safeguarding the West Philippine Sea and our invaluable fishing grounds.
Garin said the total confidential funds in 2016 was P720 million, and this escalated in 2017 to P2.07 billion, further doubled in 2020, to P4.57 billion.
An agency may only avail of confidential funds for as long as this could be justified and proven that such is necessary, Garin pointed out.
The Special Provision of the General Appropriations Act of 2022 stated that confidential funds were lump sum amounts for expenses related to “surveillance activities in civilian government agencies” to support their mandate or operations.