Worse than ‘pork’

Now we’re beginning to understand why murder is being committed over local government positions, and why dynasty building has reached shameless proportions, with members of a single clan wanting to occupy every possible major elective position in their turf.

It’s not just the ease of doing business that is guaranteed in this country for the naghaharing uri, giving undue advantage for the growth of personal and family businesses.

Taxpayers have now become aware that local government unit executives are authorized to declare a substantial chunk of the LGU budget as confidential and intelligence funds. The exponential increase in the CIF of Sara Duterte in her six years as mayor of Davao City, when her father was president, gives an idea of how much personal discretion is given to LGU executives in the utilization of secret funds.

And sadly, we’re learning that the practice is becoming widespread among LGUs.

The excuse is that LGUs need secret funds for purposes related to security and peace and order. Wouldn’t the CIF be better allocated to agencies with those specific mandates? Secret funds can be used by local executives to maintain a private army composed of state security forces who can harass political opponents.

Auditing rules are relaxed for CIF, with mere acknowledgment receipts accepted. Even 10-year-olds with poor reading comprehension can write out an acknowledgment receipt.

Sen. Raffy Tulfo said CIF can be used to buy cars ostensibly for use in intelligence operations. How do taxpayers know the cars don’t end up for the personal use of a public official?

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Pocketing a minimum of P50 million in public funds constitutes plunder. Yet we have mayors enjoying full personal discretion over the use of a whopping P460 million a year in people’s money, almost completely beyond the reach of auditing rules, which they can use to dispense patronage. It’s better than hitting the Grand Lotto jackpot, where the odds were one in 28,989,675 in October last year, when 433 people won the P236-million prize.

The CIF can be used for politicians’ contributions to their constituents’ KBL – kasal, binyag, libing (wedding, baptism, funeral). Perhaps these can be passed off as peacebuilding efforts. Critics of the secret funds can then be described as enemies of peace and the nation.

That leap of logic, coming from VP Sara, has become the butt of mostly nasty jokes, and raised alarm about how the vice president sees people’s money, and her sense of entitlement. Daughterte has the same fixation with security matters plus the pugnacity of the father, but without the natural charm and (as described by the previous US ambassador) wicked humor.

Sen. Bato dela Rosa said if there’s proof that VP Sara pocketed her confidential funds, she should be sued. But that’s exactly the bone of contention here: the lack of required documentation on the way CIF is spent.

Rodrigo Duterte, when he was president, had warned the public about his daughter: “Be careful of that woman. She can oust even a speaker.” It didn’t seem like a complete joke.

The current House Speaker refused to be ousted, and doesn’t seem to mind being described as an enemy of peace and the nation for the ongoing efforts of the House to realign CIF only to agencies directly involved in national security and law enforcement.

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Speaker Martin Romualdez has won praise even from some unlikely quarters for standing his ground on the CIF issue.

Political rivalry is seen to be driving the House move, but Romualdez has parried the VP’s attacks, reminding her of her statement that she could do without confidential funds. He said he agreed with her in the use of CIF for peace and security – precisely the reason for the ongoing fund realignment.

How far Romualdez is willing to take the reforms remains to be seen. Is he prepared to tangle with LGUs, to rationalize the allocation and use of local CIF?

A joint circular forged in January 2015 allowed the overly liberal interpretation of CIF allocation and use. Because the signatories include the Commission on Audit itself along with the Department of Budget and Management, the circular enjoyed legitimacy. The other signatories are the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Department of National Defense as well as the Governance Commission for Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations. Even GOCCs are allowed to have CIFs.

With the issue now in the spotlight, it has been pointed out that the joint circular violates several provisions in the Constitution. It’s just a circular; it can be rescinded any time by the executive. To prevent its revival in any form, it can be corrected through legislation. Or it can be challenged before the Supreme Court.

Amid the scandal over the misuse of the Priority Development Assistance Fund, the Supreme Court had struck down the PDAF or congressional pork barrel, prohibiting the earmarking of projects for public funding after the annual national budget has been passed.

But the CIF, improperly used, is even worse than the pork barrel. And now the number of officials and agencies using or asking for CIF is growing as fast as termites gnawing away at rotten wood.

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So much of people’s money is going to funds that require little accountability in their utilization. No wonder the government can’t even afford to build a short bypass road from Macapagal Boulevard to the NAIA Terminal 1, and has to outsource it to the private sector, which of course collects a fee. That short toll road is a symbol of weak governance and the improper allocation of public funds in this country.

Where do our taxes go? Metro Manila is dotted with toll roads, whose rates may be peanuts to the billionaires who collect the fees, but onerous to ordinary motorists who end up enduring traffic at the toll-free ground level just to save money.

One good thing emerging from this controversy is increased public awareness of how people’s money is being utilized by those in government. Heightened awareness that we all pay some form of tax to the government should make people more vigilant in the judicious use of public funds.

It should also raise awareness that all people working in government are in the public payroll. We are their paymasters, and we deserve to know where our taxes go.

Those who reject transparency and accountability in the use of public funds are the true enemies of the nation.