Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 25) — Fourteen sectoral groups wrote to Congress on Monday to call for the removal of confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) from the offices of the country’s two highest leaders in the proposed 2024 budget.
The Offices of the House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan received on Monday afternoon the letter penned by groups representing various sectors including health, education, labor, and women.
\”We ask you, our Congressmen, to exercise your power of the purse to remove such huge slush funds from the hands of President (Ferdinand) Marcos (Jr.) and Vice President (Sara) Duterte, who represent the most powerful and corrupt political dynasties in the country,\” the groups said.
\”In the first place, they have no need of such huge CIFs,\” they added. \”Giving them unlimited control over billions in taxpayers’ money is a betrayal of the public trust.\”
They appealed to Congress not to rush the approval of the ₱5.768-trillion budget bill for 2024, stressing it must undergo a \”judicious deliberation process that ensures transparency, accountability, and the welfare of our people above all.\”
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The progressive groups led by former lawmakers Rafael Mariano, Teddy Casiño, Raymond Palatino, and Eufemia Cullamat expressed alarm that there was no action to remove or reduce the CIF of agencies with no mandate or function that could justify the huge allocation of such funds.
They said such lump sum funds \”naturally lead to corruption and abuse\” as they are not subject to regular auditing procedures of the Commission on Audit.
They suggested realigning the CIF of the Office of the President (OP) and Office of the Vice President (OVP) to \”more urgent\” needs such as the following:
– The construction and repair of hospitals, health facilities, and public schools
– The augmentation of salaries and benefits of teachers, health workers, and other government employees
– The provision of subsidies to small farmers and fisherfolk
– The allocation of housing to poor families.
The Marcos administration is proposing ₱10.14 billion in CIF for next year. The bulk of the funds, or ₱4.5 billion, will be allocated to Marcos’ office, according to Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman.
The Department of Agriculture, also headed by Marcos, is requesting for ₱50 million.
On the other hand, Duterte is asking Congress for ₱500 million for confidential funds of the OVP and ₱150 million for the Department of Education, which she concurrently leads.
The vice president has stirred controversy for spending ₱125 million in confidential funds in 2022 as her office was not provided with such an allocation under the 2022 General Appropriations Act.
