The Confidential Funds Must Be Given Based on an Office Mandate’s Alignment w/ its Purpose
I laud the Senate and the Congress’ move to review all the government agencies with confidential funds and allot it where it needs to be.
The Confidential Funds controversy involving the Office of the Vice President (OVP) sparked a lot of headlines and gathered different reactions. Many Filipinos still starve for answers on how P125 million was spent in just 19 days by the OVP.
The CF is a product of the 2015 joint circular between the Commission on Audit (COA), the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Governance Commission for Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations (GCG), and the Department of National Defense (DND).
The CF was crafted for the activities and projects relevant to national security and peace and order. However, what’s confusing was that the OVP had a higher CF than the Department of National Defense and National Intelligence Coordinating Agency.
Furthermore, didn’t the office of Vice President Sara Duterte spent the multi-million amount way too fast?
Amid the heated discussions about the Confidential Funds of the OVP, the Senate and the Congress review the government agencies to check which offices do not actually need the CF. The Senate also expressed support on raising the decreasing CF of the Department of National Defense.
- 2018 — Php. 3.6 billion
- 2019 — Php. 2 billion
- 2022 — Php. 2.3 billion
- 2023 — Php. 1.8 billion
- 2024 — Php. 1.8 billion
On the move of the lawmakers regarding the CF, it’s a YES — even a golden buzzer if there is! I believe not all government agencies have the mandate that is in line with the functions of the CF. It is a public fund and must not be easily transferred to just any office.
Furthermore, those that must be granted with CF must be held accountable to prove that the spending of the money was appropriate and constitutional. It may be called a “Confidential Fund” but it must not be another trigger for people to lose trust to the government.
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Disclaimer: The content of the article posted above is an opinion of the writer. Also, the citations provided are based on the information deemed as facts by the different legit sources that contribute to the basis of the making of the whole viewpoint. The writer does not, in any form, intend to create inaccurate understanding of the topic or influence the readers instead, express one’s viewpoint in a formal manner.