29-9-2023 (MANILA) Vice President Sara Duterte and the Department of Education (DepEd) will not have access to confidential funds next year as lawmakers have decided to reallocate the amount of P650 million in the 2024 national budget. The House of Representatives approved this realignment in record time yesterday.
Late on Wednesday, the House appropriations committee announced that the confidential funds requested by the Office of the Vice President and the DepEd will be redirected to agencies involved in intelligence work.
Committee chairman Rep. Zaldy Co stated, “As discussed, we will realign the confidential funds of various civilian agencies. Now is the time to give our intelligence community the means to perform their duties, especially in these pressing times when we’re facing serious concerns in the West Philippine Sea.”
According to reports from the Commission on Audit (COA), Duterte had substantial confidential funds even during her tenure as the mayor of Davao City, amounting to as much as P460 million per year.
“The country’s safety and security are of paramount importance. To protect our territorial integrity from external threats, Congress is giving top priority to agencies directly responsible for protecting the country’s safety and securing its borders,” added the Ako Bicol party-list lawmaker.
This decision is in line with the “unanimous decision” of all party leaders in the House, under the leadership of Speaker Martin Romualdez, to allocate additional funding for the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, National Security Council, Philippine Coast Guard, and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
“We will realign the CIFs from other departments and agencies to the NSA, NICA, PCG, and BFAR to enhance the country’s monitoring and operational capabilities in protecting our territorial waters and securing the rights and access of Filipino fishermen to their traditional fishing grounds,” Co explained.
He further stated, “So far, that’s what we have identified, but we’re still exploring other sources.” Co was referring to the CIFs that Duterte had requested for the OVP and DepEd. “The House leadership will exercise its mandate with care and determination to ensure that public funds are used properly and where the money is needed most for the good of the country.”
Audit reports from 2016 to 2022 on the Davao City government revealed significant confidential expenses incurred during Duterte’s term as mayor. The expenses increased from P144 million in 2016 to P460 million annually from 2019 to 2022.
Duterte’s brother, Sebastian, succeeded her as the mayor of Davao City after the May 9, 2022 elections.
The COA’s annual audit reports on local government units (LGUs) and national government agencies, including the Davao City government, can be found on the COA website.
The breakdown of Davao City’s annual Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE), which includes confidential expenses, can be found in the Notes to Financial Statement section of the COA’s audit reports.
The COA’s audit report revealed that the Office of the Vice President incurred P125 million in confidential expenses in 2022, despite having no allocation for confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) under the 2022 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
It was later discovered that the P125 million came from the Office of the President (OP). Duterte had written a letter requesting a budget augmentation of P403.46 million to ensure the continuous operations of the OVP. However, several lawmakers criticized this budget augmentation as unconstitutional, as there was no allocation for such funds for the OVP under the 2022 GAA.
During the budget hearings at the House of Representatives, it was revealed that the OVP spent the P125 million it received from the OP in just 19 days, averaging about P6.5 million per day.
