THE billions of pesos worth of Confidential and Intelligence Funds (CIFs) included in the annual spending plan of the government should be allocated exclusively to agencies involved in security, peacekeeping and intelligence operations, former Senate President Franklin Drilon said yesterday.
Drilon said that instead of getting yearly CIF allocations, civilian agencies requesting for confidential funds but are not directly involved in intelligence gathering operations, such as the Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Health (DOH), and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), among others, should just rely on information provided by intelligence-gathering offices.
“Only those agencies involved in gathering intelligence should be given confidential and intelligence funds. That should be the clear standard,” Drilon said in an interview with ANC’s Headstart.
The former Senate leader and secretary of the Department of Justice (DOJ) made the remark amid mounting concerns raised over the supposed misuse and abuse of the CIFs.
Among others, questions have been raised against the request of DepEd for P150 million in confidential funds and the Office of the Vice President (OVP), which is asking for P500 million also in secret funds. Both offices are headed by Vice President Sara Duterte, who is also the concurrent education secretary.
Drilon noted that the DepEd and the OVP are not directly involved in intelligence information gathering.
Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito said it is best to minimize CIF allocations since the government has limited fiscal space.
“We are a third world country. Ang ating fiscal space is very limited, napakababa… If possible, kasi hindi naman maganda ang ating financial status, I am hoping that if we can really minimize CIFs (We are a third world country. Our fiscal space is very limited, it’s too low…If it is possible, I am hoping that we can minimize. It will be better because our fiscal status is not good),” Ejercito said during the Kapihan sa Senado media forum on Thursday.
When asked which agencies’ CIFs should be minimized or removed, skipped the question, and instead said it is best if the secret funds are given to agencies in charge of defense, national security, and those which are fighting cybercrimes.
He said the Senate Select Oversight Committee on Confidential and Intelligence Funds, Programs and Activities will work with the Senate Committee on Finance in assessing which agencies should be stripped off their or allotted lower CIFs.
FUND TRANSFER
Drilon has earlier questioned the decision of the Office of the President to transfer P221.42 million to the OVP in 2022 as confidential funds when there was no item in the OVP budget for that purpose.
Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III said that only P125 million of the P221.42 million have been liquidated.
“The decision raises serious concerns regarding the constitutionality of the fund transfer,” said Drilon.
He said he does not agree with Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, a former chief justice of the Supreme Court, who defended the fund transfer, saying it was covered by Special Provision No. 1 under the 2022 Contingent Fund which authorizes the OP to approve funding requirements of new or urgent activities that need to be implemented.
Drilon said the SC was clear in Araullo v Aquino that the power to augment cannot be used to fund non-existing items in the budget.
“This is the interpretation of the Supreme Court. The interpretation of the Constitution cannot be altered or changed by an act of Congress,” he stressed.
