Chairman of House Panel on Good Gov’t and Public Accountability Speaks on Confidential Funds
HOUSE PANEL – The House good government and public accountability panel wants to pass law that seeks disclosure of Confidential Funds.
The Office of the Vice President (OVP) is surrounded by questions over the use of its Confidential Funds. The House good government and public accountability panel has invited Vice Pres. Sara Duterte several times into a hearing but she has only appeared in a few.
Today, the House panel ended the investigation on the Confidential Funds of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte’s office as well as the Department of Education’s CIFs during Duterte’s term as its chief. It was in June this year when she resigned from being the DepEd secretary.
According to House good government and public accountability panel chairman and Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua, ending the investigation in the House will give the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) the chance to start its own investigation on the rumors that 2 military officials received portions of the Confidential Funds.
The House panel also reminded that the probe was meant to be an aid of legislation. Chua stressed that they are ending it to avoid the House investigation from being used amid the impeachment moves against Vice Pres. Sara Duterte.
After it has concluded the investigation on the OVP Confidential Funds use, the House panel eyes to pass a law that requires the disclosure of the public funds. Based on a report on GMA News, the panel also want penalties for those who will misuse the fund.
According to Rep. Chua, submitting acknowledgement receipts is a bare minimum. His statement came after the Philippine Statistics Authority or PSA data showed that more than 400 names of alleged recipients of the OVP Confidential Funds have no PSA birth records.
Recently, the House panel Chairman stressed that the proposed laws include “an Act Regulating The Allocation And Utilization Of Confidential And Intelligence Funds Imposing Penalties For Misuse And Misappropriation” and “an Act Regulating Special Disbursing Officers (SDOs) And Imposing Penalties For Misappropriation”.
Based on the report, the Manila District Representative further claimed that it is time to face the truth that not everyone elected to office is allegedly trustworthy. He stressed that there is a need to have safeguards regarding the CIFs.
“Panahon na upang harapin natin ang katotohanan na hindi lahat ng mga nahahal o nalalagay sa posisyon sa gobyerno ay pwedeng basta-bastang pagkatiwalaan,” he said.
House panel chairman Joel Chua also claimed that some government officials allegedly use the term for the CIFs to create an illusion among the people that the funds are being used in the right way despite its confidentiality.
“Ginagamit nila ang salitang ‘confidential’ upang magbigay sa atin ng ilusyon na kahit ito’y lihim, ang mga pondo ay ginastos nang tama,” the lawmaker said.
Currently, there are impeachment complaints against the Vice President. A member of the House previously confirmed that there is a limited time to process the impeachment complaints against VP Sara Duterte.