Boots Rodriguez, Capas Mayor, Speaks on Decision to Scrap Off Confidential Funds
Capas Mayor Boots Rodriguez claimed he will scrap off the Confidential Funds in the town’s budget like Naga Mayor Leni Robredo.
Undeniably, a different image was painted on the “Confidential Funds” following the alleged misuse of the said budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education when Vice Pres. Sara Duterte was still the DepEd secretary. The OVP reportedly spent P125 million of Confidential Funds in the span of 11 days.
Vice Pres. Sara Duterte previously claimed she will answer questions about her Confidential Funds “publicly” if there will be no trial. The Vice President was impeached by the House of Representatives last February 5 amid the issues of alleged misuse of the CIFs of the offices she led.
During the oath-taking of the winners of the 2025 Midterm Elections, former Vice Pres. Leni Robredo who won as mayor of Naga informed the people of her pursuit to “purge corruption”. She stressed that her office will scrap off the Confidential Funds in the town’s budget for 2026.
Robredo emphasized that the removal of the Confidential Funds is the sacrifice that they will make to ensure that efficiency of the government. The Naga Mayor also announced that the LGU “will only reward the employees who are genuinely dedicated in doing their job”.
Furthermore, Naga Mayor Leni Robredo also expressed that there will be “no inflated prices, SOP, kickback or acceptance of gifts in exchange of favors”. Another local chief executive, Capas Mayor Boots Rodriguez in the province of Tarlac, made the same move.
Based on a report on Inquirer, Capas Mayor Boots Rodriguez claimed that it was through the news about former Vice President and now Naga Mayor Leni Robredo that he knew that the Confidential Funds can be scraped off from the town’s budget.
“I saw former Vice President Leni in the news, scrapping her confidential fund as Naga City mayor. I told myself, ‘Pwede palang alisin ang confidential fund, akala ko fixed ito at hindi pwedeng i-scrap. Pwede pala,” the Capas Mayor expressed.
Based on the report, his current term is already the second term of Capas Mayor Boots Rodriguez as the town’s chief executive. During the inaugural session, he made the announcement of removing the P8 million Confidential Funds in the 2026 budget of the town.
With regards to the Confidential Funds of Capas, Tarlac in his previous term, Rodriguez claimed that the funds were spent on supporting the anti-criminality initiatives and police efforts. On the ongoing issue of the Confidential Funds of the OVP and the DepEd under Duterte’s lead, the Office of the Ombudsman is investigating Vice Pres. Sara Duterte’s Confidential Funds.