Why the insatiable demand for secret funds that are beyond the pale of scrutiny with a fine-toothed comb by the government’s Commission on Audit?
If the second highest elective official in the land – and also the head of one of the biggest departments in the bureaucracy – accumulates hundreds of millions of pesos in public funds every year supposedly for confidential and intelligence operations but refuses to explain how such funds have been spent precisely because by their very nature they cannot be revealed, what does that say about transparency and accountability that’s indispensable components of good governance?
It is absolutely correct for opposition lawmakers such as House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro to take up the cudgels for taxpayers and raise questions about how Vice President and concurrent Education Secretary Sara Duterte has managed to spend enormous confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs) since she took office in July 2022 without having to submit any report to the Commission on Audit (COA), the state accounting firm, on how these were spent.
Rep. Castro, citing COA annual reports, revealed that Duterte, during her two terms as Davao mayor, spent confidential funds amounting to P114 million in 2016 that ballooned to P460 million by the time she stepped down to run for the second highest office in the land in 2022.
Thus, Duterte spent P2.697 billion in confidential expenses from 2016 to 2022, or an average of P1.235 million spent every day, for six years.
“This is way bigger than even the richest cities in the country like Makati City and Quezon City,” Castro pointed out. Makati allocated P240 million yearly in 2021 and 2022. Quezon City spent P100 million in 2021 and P75 million in 2022.
“The COA should thoroughly examine if this fund was indeed used for confidential purposes and in line with Joint Circular 2015-01. If it is proven otherwise, the money should be returned and legal action should be taken,” the lawmaker said.
The circular Castro was referring to was jointly released by the Departments of Budget and Management, National Defense, Interior and Local Governments, COA and the Governance Commission for Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations.
This circular prescribed the guidelines for the use and limitations of confidential and intelligence funds, as well as the mandatory reports on their utilization and liquidation to be submitted to the COA, the President and both chambers of Congress.
Duterte has come under severe criticism in Congress and in media for asking P500 million in confidential funds for the Office of the Vice President and P150 million for the Department of Education since both agencies have no direct defense and security mandates necessitating such expenses.
In comparison, the confidential fund of the Armed Forces of the Philippines amounted to P444 million yearly from 2020 to 2022; for the same respective years, the Philippine National Police got P868 million, P856 million and P806 million.
The Philippine Coast Guard, the guardian of the more than 7,100 islands of the archipelago, got a paltry P10 million yearly during the same period.
Castro believes Vice President Duterte “is so eager to have a confidential fund in her national office as she may have become accustomed to such a practice during her time as mayor of Davao City.”
By their very nature, confidential funds are for an agency’s surveillance-related activities while intelligence funds are for gathering information related to national security.
It now appears the OVP spent a total P125 million of its confidential funds in the second half of 2022 in only 11 days.
For Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, “it is difficult to implement the spending of P125 million…in a short period of time. ”
He noted the other government agencies had a “very low” utilization rate compared to the “very fast” rate of the OVP.
“What I can say is, there was an inordinate avarice to use the confidential funds,” the lawmaker said.
Rep. Castro has also urged state auditors to investigate the Davao City government’s confidential expenses during Sara Duterte’s term, and “ensure that public funds are used in accordance with the law.”
“The Filipino people deserve to know how their hard-earned money is being spent. We cannot tolerate any misuse or abuse of public funds, especially large amounts allocated for confidential purposes. We must hold our public officials accountable and ensure that transparency and integrity prevail in our governance.”
We agree wholeheartedly.
Why the insatiable demand for secret funds that are beyond the pale of scrutiny with a fine-toothed comb by the government’s Commission on Audit?
Hence, we ask as well: Where do the secret funds go? Do they end up somewhere dark and unreachable by prying eyes because they are intended as war chest for future political contests?
We do not know because the OVP and DepEd invoke total secrecy in the use of their CIFs.
This is totally unacceptable, and should be resolutely opposed by all right-thinking citizens.
(Email: ernhil@yahoo.com)