CONFIDENTIAL and intelligence spending of national government agencies amounted to P9.34 billion in 2022, with the Office of the President accounting for P4.5 billion of that total.
Last year’s confidential/intelligence expenses total was P446 million lower compared to the P9.786 billion incurred by the Duterte government in its last full year.
The figures were revealed in the 500-page 2022 Annual Financial Report-Volume 1 (National Government) released by the Commission on Audit last October 9.
Hard copies of the report were submitted earlier by the COA to the Office of the President (OP), Office of the Vice President (OVP), Office of the Senate President, Office of the Speaker, the Senate Committee on Finance, and the House Committee on Appropriations on September 26, 2023.
An electronic copy of the report is accessible online and may be downloaded via the COA’s official website.
The 2022 confidential expenses amounted to P3.762 billion, a decrease of P682.45 million from P4.354 billion for the same expenditure item in 2021.
Last year’s intelligence spending, on the other hand, increased to P5.669 billion — up P236.5 million from P5.432 billion the year before.
The panel of the House Committee on Appropriations announced last October 10 that there will be zero allocations for confidential expenses in the 2024 budgets of the OVP, the Department of Education (DepEd), the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), the Department of Agriculture (DA), and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
The move comes after the public outcry against the surge of requests for confidential budgets by agencies whose functions have no relation whatsoever to national security.
CONFIDENTIAL FUNDS
A per-agency breakdown provided by auditors showed the Office of the President accounted for P2.25 billion or 61.28 percent of the national government’s confidential spending in 2022.
The balance went to “Other executive offices” (P764.888 million or 20.83 percent); the Department of Justice (P302.133 million or 8.23 percent); Office of the Vice President (P125 million or 3.4 percent); the Department of the Interior and Local Government (P60.6 million or 1.65 percent).
The Department of Finance (P60.527 million or 1.65 percent); National Defense (P37.429 million or 1.02 percent); Social Welfare and Development (P20 million or 0.55 percent); Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (P18.75 million or 0.51 percent); Foreign Affairs (P10 million or 0.27 percent).
“Other Departments/Offices” accounted for P22.468 million or 0.61 percent.
“For OEO (other executive offices), the PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency) reported the highest amount of P500 million of 65.37 percent followed by the National Security Council of P182 million or 23.79 percent,” the COA explained.
Under the DOJ, the Office of the Secretary spent P150.58 million in confidential funds while the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) used P141.55 million.
The COA said the Office of the President also spent P2.5 billion in Intelligence Funds last year, identical to its confidential expenses. The amount represented 39.69 percent of the national government’s P5.668 billion intelligence expenses last year.
In second place having spent P1.742 billion or 30.74 percent of the intelligence expenditures was the Department of National Defense (DND).
The DILG was in the third spot with P1.118 billion in intelligence expenses or 19.72 percent.
“Other executive offices” incurred P548.2 million (9.67 percent) while the Department of Transportation (DOTr) used P10 million (0.18 percent).
The AFR on the National Government did not provide a breakdown of how the OP spent its intelligence funds.
