December 10, 2024 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Confidential and intelligence fund spending was at an all-time high last year with over P10 billion disbursed by the Marcos administration for surveillance and confidential activities, according to the Commission on Audit (COA)’s annual financial report on national government agencies.
State auditors reported that the agencies spent P6.028 billion in intelligence funds (IF) and P4.415 billion in confidential funds (CF), bringing a total of over P10.4 billion. This was P643 million higher than in 2022 when the government spent P9.757 billion in such funds.
The Office of the President spent the lion’s share of the P10.4-billion CF and IF allocation for 2023, with a combined total of P4.56 billion, nearly half of the total funds.
Among the government agencies that have been allocated CFs, the Office of the Justice Secretary was the top spender with P683 million, followed by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency with P500 million and the Office of the Vice President (OVP) with P375 million.
Confidential funds are expenses related to civilian government agencies’ surveillance activities to support their mandate or operations.
After revelations that the OVP spent P125 million in confidential funds in 11 days in 2022, both chambers of Congress last year agreed to realign all confidential funds of civilian agencies to those involved in national security amid threats and aggressive acts by China over the West Philippine Sea.
Civilian agencies that received CFs last year included the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (P35 million), Department of Social Welfare and Development (P18 million), Department of Transportation (P2.9 million), Games and Amusements Board (P5 million), Philippine Competition Commission (P2.3 million), Philippine Racing Commission (P221,000) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (P7.5 million).
Meanwhile, the general headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines was the top spender of IFs with P1.735 billion, followed by the Philippine National Police (P936.5 million), National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (P522.7 million) and the Philippine Army (P444 million).
Since 2023, lawmakers have been scrutinizing the OVP’s use of confidential funds, which has since triggered negative optics against discretionary funds.
The hearings on Vice President Sara Duterte’s confidential fund spending have also triggered impeachment complaints against her.
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