A clarification was made for the confidential funds of OVP
The budget sponsor of the Office of the Vice President clarified that it spent the confidential funds for 19 days and not just for 11 days, so what good does this clarification do to the Filipino people?
The Commission on Audit (COA) reported that the OVP’s CF last year amounting to P125 million was spent for 11 days only, from December 20 to 31, 2022.
The opposition and critics are already questioning how the public funds will be spent and the recent report that it only took less than two weeks for the budget to be spent is even more mind-blowing to them.
No one can question the legality of the confidential funds as the law has stated this under the 2015 joint circular between the Commission on Audit (COA), Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Department of the Interior and Local Government, Governance Commission for Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations (GCG) and the Department of National Defense.
However, there are certain guidelines to this law stating where the funds should be spent.
Based on the article in Inquirer, budget sponsor and Davao de Oro 1st District Rep. Maria Carmen Zamora stated that the report from COA stating that the CF was spent for just 11 days was inaccurate.
The lawmaker stressed, “the implementation of the programs started on the day that the SARO was released, on December 13 of 2022. Which means immediately after the release of SARO, the implementation has already started.”
Zamora’s statement supports the previous report that it was 19 days, and not 11 only. With this clarification, the question in the minds of many Filipinos, especially those in the “laylayan” is still unanswered. The clarification that many want to know is where this huge amount is being spent.
Since these are “confidential funds,” there is no way that the public will know where this hefty amount was spent. There is no assurance that this money was actually spent for what it was intended for, based on the guidelines that the government agencies structured.
The Philippines is definitely not a rich country and every penny counts for many Filipinos. With that huge amount of money and seeing the financial status of many Filipinos now, it is quite frustrating that no one knows where the money of this country goes under these “confidential funds.”
I just hope that good conscience is still working for elected officials. I wish that their intentions prioritized the welfare of every Filipino, just like what they promised when they were just trying to convince the people to vote for them.
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