THE provinces of Aurora and Nueva Ecija reported zero confidential expenses for two years running while the five other Central Luzon provinces made fund releases under the said expense item for 2022 and 2023.
Financial statements submitted by the seven provinces in Region 3 were included in the 2023 Annual Audit Reports (AARs) and disclosed disbursements for confidential activities made under the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE).
The AARs of Aurora and Nueva Ecija were released on April 18, 2024 while that of Pampanga was uploaded on the official website of the Commission on Audit on May 9, 2024. On the other hand, AARs for Bataan, Bulacan, Tarlac, and Zambales were made public only last December 1.
Two provinces in the region made the top 20 wealthiest list in 2023, with Pampanga landing in 10th place on assets totaling P20.778 billion and Tarlac grabbing 16th spot with P17.047 billion.
Bulacan and Nueva Ecija were ranked 19th and 20th, respectively, in the 2022 list but were edged out by Tarlac and North Cotabato.
Based on the data in the audit reports, Bulacan had the biggest confidential expenditures at P200 million both in 2022 and 2023, or a total of P400 million in the past two years.
Bataan came in second, declaring P38 million in CF spending in 2023 down from P56 million the year before.
Zambales reported confidential expenses amounting to P36 million for both years or a total of P72 million.
Tarlac released P18.8 million for confidential activities for 2023, less than half of the P40 million spent a year earlier.
Pampanga, on the other hand, disclosed P15 million CF expenses in 2023, slightly up from P11.25 million in 2022.
Under Joint Circular No. 2015-01 issued by the Commission on Audit (COA), the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Department of National Defense (DND), and the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG), confidential spending of local government units must be directly related to their Peace and Order Programs (POP).
The same circular provides that activities and programs eligible for confidential spending are limited to crime prevention and law enforcement activities; capability development for personnel of law enforcement agencies and volunteers; and programs related to illegal drugs, illegal gambling, counter insurgency, smuggling, human trafficking, and against illegal fishing and unlicensed mining and logging operations.
Nueva Ecija listed P1.05 million spent last year under “extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses (EME)” while Aurora reported P338,014 under the same expense item.
Unlike confidential funds, the EME is unrelated to security or peace and order issues but is tapped for expenses not covered by regular budget allocations, including meetings and conferences, official entertainment, public relations, contribution to civic organizations, office equipment and supplies, among others.
