President Rodrigo Duterte, who vetoed some provisions of the 2021 national budget, has refused to tell Congress how intelligence funds in the 2021 national budget would be spent.
In a virtual press conference, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte exercised his power to veto certain “unconstitutional items” before signing the P4.5-trillion national budget for next year on Monday.
Duterte said intelligence funds covered programs and projects "related to national security" and matters related to this "are deemed confidential or classified information."
"All activities involving intelligence gathering that have a direct impact on national security and public safety shall be directly submitted to my Office," he told Senate President Vicente Sotto III and House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco.
"Consequently, I have to directly veto the proviso… which effectively requires the submission of quarterly reports on the use of intelligence funds to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate of the Philippines," Duterte added.
In the Senate, Senator Grace Poe said the government must pursue wise and timely spending of the newly-signed 2021 budget.
She noted that containing the pandemic, reviving the economy, and providing jobs for Filipinos remained the greatest challenges in making the budget work.
The impact of this allocation, Poe said. should trickle down to the Filipinos, especially those plunged into despair by the pandemic.
"The budget may not solve the economic crisis entirely, but it will certainly help us through it," she added.
Sen. Christopher Go lauded the President for signing the 2021 national budget, saying "I also thank my colleagues in both houses of Congress for having submitted the proposed budget on time."
According to Sotto, the security cluster "insists that there are members of Congress who are sympathizers or allegedly connected to the CPP/NPA (Communist Party of the Philippines/ New People's Army)."
"PRRD (Duterte) probably thinks it's best not to telegraph the Executive’s intel actions," he said.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin earlier questioned why programmed allocations for intelligence and confidential funds, as well as the government's anti-insurgency program, were higher than funding for COVID-19 vaccines under the 2021 national budget.
While Congress authorized the executive branch to disburse P72.5 billion for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines next year, only P2.5 billion has guaranteed funding under the 2021 budget, while the remaining P70 billion needs to be sourced from loans or excess non-tax revenue collections.
Deilon added: "There is no definite revenue source for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccine but there are P16.4 billion for anti-insurgency and P9.5 billion for confidential and intelligence funds," he said.
Roque said Duterte vetoed the provision allowing agencies to directly use their income.
“Among the provisions he vetoed is the provision on the use of income of some departments and agencies,” he added.
He said as a general rule, all income of agencies shall accrue to the General Fund of the National Government, unless otherwise authorized by a separate substantive law.
“This simply means that all the revenue of the agencies must go to the National Treasury and it is necessary to spend it in accordance with the national budget,” he said.
He noted that Duterte ordered the efficient use of public funds, including the utilization of infrastructure-related expenses, implementation of financial assistance to local government units (LGUs), implementation of rice subsidy, and the prompt release and utilization of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Fund.
Duterte also ordered the need to observe prevailing laws, policies, and regulations in relation to procurement-related provisions, distribution of allowances and benefits, the use of the Quick Response Fund, identifying program beneficiaries, establishing evacuation centers, implementing service contracting, and funding foreign-assisted projects among others, he added.
Roque also said Duterte urged Congress to promote the proper and transparent management and expenditure of public funds based on sound fiscal policies.
Duterte signed Republic Act 11518 to boost the administration’s efforts to effectively respond to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and provide critical measures to aid the economic and social sectors.
One of the most important allocations in the 2021 national budget is the P72.5 billion for the purchase of storage, transportation, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, he said.
Duterte also assured the public that the administration would ensure the efficient use of resources to help overcome the debilitating effects of the pandemic on public health and the economy.