THE P125 million in confidential funds transferred to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) by the Office of the President (OP) last year was spent in only 11 days, and not in 19 days as earlier exposed by the Makabayan bloc, the senior vice chair of the House Committee on Appropriations said yesterday.
Marikina City Rep. Stella Quimbo made the statement on the questioning of Rep. Arlene Brosas (PL, Gabriela) during the plenary debates on the proposed P13.36 billion budget for 2024 of the Commission on Audit (COA).
Quimbo told lawmakers that according to state auditors’ information, the fund was disbursed in just 11 days.
“Ang totoo po ay nagulat din po ako noong mabasa ko ang mga balita na tila nagastos po sa loob ng 19 days at tinanong ko po ang COA at tiningnan ko po ang mga iba’t ibang mga reports, pero hindi po ito nagastos sa loob ng 19 days kung hindi 11 days po (The truth is, I was also surprised when I read in the news that it seems that the fund was spent in only 19 days so I asked the COA and read different reports. It wasn’t spent in 19 days but 11 days),” she told the plenary deliberations which was presided over by Rep. Camille Villar of Las Piñas.
Quimbo said the OVP submitted its liquidation report last January and has been issued an audit observation memorandum or AOM on September 18, 2023 by state auditors.
According to the appropriations committee vice chair, COA assured Congress that a full report will be submitted on November 15, 2023 as audit is still ongoing.
“So Madam Speaker, ongoing pa rin ang audit at ang AOM ay preliminary findings and again may confidential nature po ang AOM bagama’t ang masasabi po natin ay ang AOM na ‘yan ay nagco-convey po ng request for additional documents (So Madam Speaker, the audit is still ongoing and the AOM contains only preliminary findings and again, the AOM is confidential in nature I but can say that the AOM conveys the request for additional documents),” Quimbo said.
The OVP, through Vice President Sara Duterte’s spokesman Reynold Munsayac, said their office has not yet received the AOM from COA.
Rep. France Castro (PL, ACT), who, like Brosas is a member of the Makabayan bloc, earlier said the P125 million in “unauthorized” confidential funds was spent in the last 19 days of December last year.
The budget, which was covered by a Department of Budget and Management (DBM) special allotment release order (SARO) to the OVP that same month, turned out to be released from the Executive’s own contingent funds.
Duterte has not directly addressed how the fund was spent but Quimbo last week defended the OVP’s use of confidential funds, saying it was sourced from the contingent funds, which she said is a Special Purpose Fund (SPF) lodged with the DBM.
The SPF are appropriations in the national budget that have no specific purpose yet but will cover expenditures that have not yet been identified during budget preparation.
P11M DAILY
Brosas said the OVP appears to have spent P11,363,636.36 per day in 11 days while “poor Filipinos don’t even have enough money to spend for food and other basic needs.”
“Habang patindi ng patindi ang kahirapan sa bansa, tumitindi rin ang patagong paggastos ng pera ng taongbayan (While poverty worsens in the country, the secret use of public funds is also getting worse),” she said.
Brosas pointed out that under the DBM-COA-DILG Joint circular 2015-001, the use of confidential funds is limited to the following: purchase of information needed for the formulation and implementation of programs, activities, and projects relevant to national security and peace and order; rental of transport vehicles related to confidential activities; rentals and incidental expenses related to the maintenance of safehouses; purchase of rental supplies, materials, and equipment for confidential operations that cannot be done through regular procedures; payment of rewards to informers; uncovering/preventing illegal activities that pose a clear and present danger to agency personnel/property, or other facilities and resources under agency protection; and other expenses authorized by the General Appropriations Act or other special laws.
“For VP Sara to fully utilize P125 million in 11 days, she needs to pay 1,250 informers at P100,000 each for 11 days or P9,090 daily per informer. But despite the public’s outrage over the use of confidential funds, she refuses to explain how her office utilized these funds,” Brosas said.
SPECIAL OVERSIGHT PANEL
In a separate privilege speech, Quimbo pushed for the creation of a special oversight committee to monitor the use of confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs) by government agencies.
“[N]aniniwala ako na ang kaban ng bayan ay dapat ginagastos para sa kaunlaran ng bayan (I believe that the country’s coffers should be spent for its progress). This can only be achieved with a stronger push towards transparent governance,” Quimbo told the plenary. “May I remind our colleagues that during the debate on the general principles (of the 2024 budget), I specifically mentioned the opportunity for Congress to increase transparency in the use of confidential and intelligence funds with a proposal to create a special oversight committee.”
Under Quimbo’s proposal, she wants three House majority members and one minority member to join the Speaker in the special oversight committee, whose primary task is to ensure that the CIFs are used properly and judiciously.
“To elaborate, the special committee shall have the privilege of complete access to the reports submitted to COA-DBM (Department of Budget and Management) (under) Joint Circular 2015-01,” Quimbo said.
The joint circular, issued by COA together with the DBM, the Department of Interior and Local Government, the Department of National Defense and the Governance Commission for Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations, outlines the government agencies and intelligence practitioners and experts authorized and eligible to receive CIFs.
