A clear majority of Filipinos believe confidential funds should be allocated only to government agencies that are directly involved in intelligence gathering, surveillance and in the development of defense capability of the Philippines.
In a third quarter survey by The Issues and Advocacy Center (The CENTER), some 52 percent said only government agencies performing functions relevant to the country’s security should get confidential funds.
Only 21 percent said they were in favor of confidential funds finding its way to civilian offices of the government while 15 percent said they are moderately in favor.
Meanwhile, views among senators on the use of confidential funds will have to be reconciled before the Senate follows the House lead to redistribute them to agencies directly involved in national security, Senator Juan Edgardo Angara said Wednesday.
The House of Representatives on Tuesday announced that some civilian agencies—including the Office of the Vice President, the Department of Education, and the Department of Agriculture—would be stripped of their confidential funds.
But the Senate is far from reaching a similar agreement, Angara said.
“Each senator has his own opinion. Some want to remove the confidential funds; others want them reduced. Still others want them to say, so we have to reach a consensus,” Angara said in a mix of Filipino and English at a briefing Tuesday.
He said such matters are usually discussed in caucus before they are brought to the plenary floor.
Angara said that discussion on confidential funds will have to be done “agency by agency” and that the Senate must agree on standards it will use before granting them.
Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva, meanwhile, assured the public that senators will ensure that the 2024 national budget will be a well-examined one.
“We will scrutinize everything to ensure that we are all proud of the national budget that we will pass before the end of the year,” Villanueva said.
“We will respect each other’s positions, hear their proposals and we [will] decide as an institution,” he said.
Senator JV Ejercito, meanwhile, said he would push for the retention — and even an increase — in the confidential funds for the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The House small committee had cut the DICT’s confidential funds but retained the allocation for the DOJ, because the National Bureau of Investigation under it conducts surveillance in the course of its work.
Citing the threat of cybercrime, Ejercito siad the DICT should have confidential funds as well—a stand that the department has also taken.
The department on Wednesday said it would ask the House of Representatives to reconsider its decision to scrap the agency’s proposed P300 million confidential funds next year to protect the country’s cyber assets from hackers.
“Definitely it’s going to be an appeal on our part because it sends a wrong signal to the rest of the world,” DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy said in an interview with ANC.
“While cyber threats and cyber criminals are increasing and becoming more sophisticated and they have more funds to do so, the Philippines — going against the tide of the rest of the world — is de-funding our cybersecurity and is actually announcing to the world that we’re not interested in protecting our cyber borders,” he added.
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III, meanwhile, said confidential funds for the Office of the President should be reduced and intelligence funds eliminated altogether.
“It is a civilian agency, which is not and should not be engaged in intelligence gathering, considering the workload of the OP,” Pimentel said in a statement.
He said that with the tasks that the OP is already handling, its personnel would have no time to conduct surveillance and intelligence gathering.
“Leave that to the specialists in the field of intelligence,” he said.
But Angara opposed the suggestion, saying they did not want to weaken the presidency.
Zubiri said the Senate itself does not need confidential funds.
He denied reports circulating on social media that the Senate had P331 million in confidential funds under his watch in 2023.
He said these posts were “deliberately and maliciously presented” to malign and tarnish the reputation of the institution.
Senator Ronald dela Rosa said he has no problem removing confidential funds from civilian government agencies.
“No problem with me. The power of the purse belongs to Congress,” he said.
Dela Rosa said he can go either way, but he will defer his stand to the pleasure of the majority.
In other developments:
* Ombudsman Samuel Martires has written Congress to propose that they slash the P51 million in confidential and intelligence funds allocated to his office to P1 million. “If it will only taint the reputation of the Ombudsman and its office, I am willing that this be scratched…I think we can survive without confidential funds,” Martires had said at a Senate budget hearing.
* The policy think tank Infrawatch PH welcomed the House of Representatives move to realign P1.23 billion in confidential funds amid criticisms against these, calling it “a milestone in fiscal responsibility.” Terry Ridon, convenor of InfraWatch PH, said, “The realignment of P1.23 billion in confidential funds is a watershed moment in Philippine governance… “This is not just fiscal prudence; it’s a political statement. It shows that our lawmakers, led by House Speaker Martin Romualdez, listen to public sentiment, as any adept government should.”