Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 5) – It is unlikely that the House of Representatives will return the confidential funds which it stripped late last month from the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education, both led by Sara Duterte.
READ: Lawmakers to cut OVP, DepEd confidential funds to boost budget of security agencies
The funds will instead be used to augment the budgets of agencies mandated with protecting the country and promoting security, particularly those on the front lines of defending Manila’s sovereignty amid China’s escalating aggression in the West Philippine Sea.
“Right now, the collective decision of the House – and we had a caucus so to speak or we had a conference – is that for the time being, the CIFs will be realigned and put to other departments or agencies that are best-suited to conduct the security aspects where the Secretary or the VP is concerned,” Speaker Martin Romualdez told the media on Thursday.
This is after Duterte claimed that the funds for her agencies were meant to combat terrorism or organized crime, and implied that those who stood against confidential funds were considered “kalaban ng bayan [enemies of the state].”
READ: VP Duterte defends confidential funds: ‘It should not be constrained by time’
In response, Romualdez said “With respect to confidential funds, we are all for it. We are all for peace and security. We are in total agreement that the utilization of confidential funds is to promote peace and security.”
Meanwhile Romualdez, other House leaders, and Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Romeo Brawner on Thursday visited Pag-asa island, part of the Kalayaan town in Palawan in the West Philippine Sea after three Filipino fishermen were killed after being rammed by a foreign vessel.
He said the House was considering an additional ₱3 billion – some of which will come from the realigned secret funds – to fund developments on the island, including a reclamation project for the extension of its airport, a naval port, and a fishing sanctuary.
Furthermore, Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo, vice chair of the House Committee on Appropriations, said the House has formed a small committee to assess which agencies would retain or be stripped of confidential funds, and which one would receive more.
