
‘Walang confidential fund ang Congress’
Just fake news — solon
THE small committee tasked by the House of Representatives to amend the P5.768 trillion 2024 national budget dismissed Tuesday as mere fake news the allegations going around social media that the chamber enjoys a P1.6 billion confidential fund.
“Wala pong confidential funds ang Congress. ‘Yun pong sinasabing P1.6 billion ay Extra Ordinary Expenses,” Senior Vice Chairperson the House Appropriations panel Rep. Stella Quimbo clarified during a press briefing.
“In short, that’s fake news,” said Appropriations panel chair, Rep. Elizaldy Co, referring to the alleged confidential fund of the House.
Quimbo explained that while Extra Ordinary fund is lumped under the same heading with the Confidential and Intelligence Funds under the 2024 General Appropriations Act, it is subject to full scrutiny by the Commission on Audit, unlike the other two items.
“Yung extra ordinary po ay fully auditable which is different from confidential (fund) at ang Congress ay wala po nung confidential (fund). Yung extra ordinary po ay kagaya ng expenses during calamities—so that’s an example of an extra-ordinary expense,” she said.
Meanwhile, in the same press briefing, Quimbo bared that as authorized by the Hosue, the small panel came to an unanimous decision to scrap the controversial confidential fund for five departments of the government.
“As such, the Office of the Vice President, Department of Education, Department of Information and Communications Technology, Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Foreign Affairs are getting zero confidential funds under the 2024 GAA,” Quimbo said.
Instead, Quimbo said the panel decided to channel the bulk of such confidential funds, amounting to P1.23 billion to agencies in charge of ensuring national security, especially on the West Philippine Sea.
“We believe that the House of Representatives is on the right side of history. We are responding to the call of the times, and the volatile situation on the WPS calls for immediate and decisive action to protect our national sovereignty,” Quimbo said.
Other members of the panel are House committee on appropriations chairman and Ako Bicol partylist Rep. Zaldy Co, House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe and House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan.
Based on the panel’s recommendation the bulk of the confidential funds were realigned to the following front-line agencies in charge of monitoring and protecting the country’s territorial rights in the West Philippine Sea:
• P300M for the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA)
• P100M for the National Security Council
• P200M to the Philippine Coast Guard for intelligence activities and ammunition
• P381.8M to the Department of Transportation for airport development and expansion of Pag-asa island airport (part of the P3B total allocation for the said airport).
Instead of confidential funds the panel decided to allocate funds for the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) following agencies :
• P30M for Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources
• P25M for DICT
• P30M for DFA
• P50M for the Office of the Ombudsman, and:
• 150M for DepEd’s government assistance to students and teachers in private education.
However, Quimbo clarified that confidential funds were retained in the budget of some agencies, like the Department of Justice or the Bureau of Customs, whose mandate required the performance of surveillance activities.