Uproar against ‘Confidential funds’

EDITORIAL

Confidential funds worth million if not billions of pesos allotted to government agencies like the Dept. of Education under Vice President Sara Duterte had been the object of harsh commentaries from the public.
    The three branches of government are supposed to provide checks and balances to each other, minimizing mistakes as well as preventing the misuse, abuse and centralization of power.
    Both chambers of Congress, invoking parliamentary courtesy, are abdicating this role in dealing with the executive’s proposals for confidential and intelligence funds or CIF, political analysts are saying.
    The P2.3-billion proposed budget for 2024 of the Office of the Vice President recently breezed through the House of Representatives, and then through the Senate committee on finance, for immediate referral to the plenary.
    The amount includes P500 million in CIF for the OVP.
    Extending parliamentary courtesy to the two highest officials of the land is fine if there are no controversial issues involved in the utilization of people’s money. In this case, however, the Makabayan bloc congressmen had wanted to question the OVP regarding its use of P125 million in confidential funds in the final six months of 2022. The funding was not in the Congress-approved budget for 2022 that was prepared by Leni Robredo, who never sought confidential funds in her six years as vice president. Without the appropriation, the OVP took its confidential funds for the second semester of 2022 from the P221.424-million contingent funds of the Office of the President.
    Before the Makabayan bloc could raise this point, however, President Marcos’ son, Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Ferdinand Alexander Marcos, moved to terminate the deliberations. The House committee on appropriations dutifully complied, and the OVP budget was quickly rubberstamped by the chamber.
    At the Senate at least, one of the two minority members, Sen. Koko Pimentel, was allowed to raise what he described as the illegal transfer of funds from the Office of the President to the OVP. Apart from the absence of the funding in the 2022 General Appropriations Act, Pimentel pointed out that the contingent fund of the OP can be used only for three purposes, which do not include providing for or augmenting confidential funds in another office.
    The Office of the Executive Secretary defended the fund juggling, explaining that Special Provision No. 1 in the 2022 Contingent Fund authorized the OP to use the fund for new or urgent activities, in this case new satellite offices for the OVP.
    Militant teachers have also questioned Congress’ approval of a P150-million confidential fund for the DepEd under Duterte, who told reporters that the money is needed to “mold children (to) defend the country.”
    Amid protests, the Senate leadership has said it may review the CIF of the OVP and DepEd.
It remains to be seen whether this will lead to transparency and the judicious use of public funds. At this time, no review is happening.