What distinguishes confidential funds from intelligence funds? The answer lies solely in who utilizes them. According to a 2015 joint circular issued by the Commission on Audit (COA), the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), and the Department of National Defense, both confidential and intelligence funds are earmarked for surveillance activities and intelligence information gathering, critical to national security and the functioning of various government agencies.
Confidential funds are earmarked for surveillance efforts of civilian government agencies to aid in fulfilling their mandates. Intelligence funds, on the other hand, are allocated for the work of uniformed and military personnel, as well as intelligence practitioners, to support national security initiatives through information gathering.
In a Senate budget briefing last week, Vice President Sara Duterte detailed the expansive use of confidential funds in a wide array of social welfare and public assistance programs overseen by her office, including the entrepreneurship program, peacebuilding in communities, distribution of free school supplies, tree-planting program, feeding program, Libreng Sakay, and Disaster Operations Center. These revelations came in response to inquiries from Sen. Risa Hontiveros, marking the first instance the vice president has openly discussed the allocation of these funds, first acquired in 2022, according to a report by the Philippine Star.
The vice president’s revelations have raised some eyebrows, including mine, and left jaws dropping. While these programs by the OVP are commendable, the source of funding through confidential funds is questionable and possibly improper based on the definitions and guidelines established in the 2015 circular.
In a statement released last Sunday, the Bayan Muna party-list group has declared its intent to bring a case before the Supreme Court to challenge the allocation of 125 million pesos to the confidential fund of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) in 2022. It’s a substantial sum that was initially auditable but has since become exempt from regular audit scrutiny, according to Bayan Muna chairman Neri Colmenares.
Looking at it from the perspective of government offices like the OVP, it is important for them to have a certain degree of financial flexibility to efficiently execute their respective mandates. However, this should not come at the cost of forsaking transparency and scrutiny in how public funds are distributed and used.
Sen. Hontiveros has pointed out that the Department of Education (DepEd), which operates under Vice President Duterte and is not directly involved in addressing security threats, has been allocated a confidential fund of 150 million pesos in the 2024 budget. On the other hand, the Philippine Coast Guard, amid the challenges posed by China in the West Philippine Sea, is slated to receive only 10 million pesos in confidential funds. If our civilian leaders are not careful and continue their casual approach to handling public funds, it may eventually come back to bite them.
Hontiveros correctly noted that the 2015 joint circular stipulate a “limited range of purposes” for confidential funds, chiefly concerning surveillance and intelligence activities. But in justifying the diverse use of confidential funds for different activities, Vice President Duterte cited an instance where the funds were instrumental in facilitating a successful sting operation against a person attempting to defraud an OVP program in Bulacan.
I don’t know who is advising the vice president, but her inexperience in government could, unbeknownst to her, be deliberately exploited by people in government pretending to be her allies, potentially using this against her in the future. What could be a more potent tool for self-sabotage than giving someone the confidential funds they desire, only to watch them err, falter, or face resentment in its use?