House Panels Slashed OVP, DepEd & Other Agencies from Confidential Funds Grants
The move of a House panel to remove the confidential funds of some government agencies and transfer it to security agencies is commending.
One of the biggest issues in the Philippines that hooked different opinions from ordinary Filipinos to popular personalities is the Confidential Funds. It caught attention when the CF of the Office of the Vice President amounting to P125 million sparked headlines after it was spent in only 19 days — 11 days in the initial reports.
The Confidential Funds was crafted to support the activities and projects relevant to national security and peace and order. Indeed, it is a question on how the OVP has used up the multi-million amount given its mandate.
The issues have slowly eased but the Filipinos were left starving for answers on how it all happened. The best thing that the people can hope for is that the CF will be allocated rightfully in the next budget — while holding accountable the spending of the previous CFs, of course!
Recently, a House panel decided to give zero confidential funds to five (5) government offices and agencies. Two (2) of these are headed by Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio. Here are the agencies slashed by the House panel from the CF:
- Office of the Vice President (OVP)
- Department of Education (DepEd)
- Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT)
- Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)
- Department of Agriculture (DA)
The House panels wants to give the CFs of the aforementioned offices and agencies to the state entities that are frontliners in protecting the West Philippine Sea. The said panel is a small committee in the House for individual ammendments of the proposed 2024 national budget.
I see the House panel’s move as a laudiable one. Indeed, the Confidential Funds would be more useful if it will be allotted to agencies whose mandate match the purpose for which the funds were designed for.
There is a pressing need for the Philippine Coast Guard and the Philippine Navy to be given a bigger budget so they can boost their presence and capacity in protecting the Philippine waters. Their enhanced presence will also benefit the fisherfolks who get intimidated by the Chinese authorities when fishing in the disputed waters.
Thank you for visiting Philnews.ph. You may also follow us on Facebook, on Twitter, and subscribe to our YouTube channel Philnews Ph.
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.