Lawmaker questions Intel fund for Office of the President
A lawmaker questioned the Office of the President’s (OP) request for P4.5 billion in confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) under the 2021 budget.
In today’s budget briefing, Kabataan Rep. Sarah Elago said 54% of the P8.23 billion fund under the OP for next year will go to the CIF. This year the OP was allocated P8.25 billion including the P4.5 billion CIF.
Elago said the P12.98 million per day budget for CIF should be used instead to purchase personal protective equipment and other items to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Natagurian itong blank budget dahil ito ay nakakatakas sa public scrutiny dahil nga dun sa nature ng funds kaya isa ito sa mga nagiging hadlang pagdating sa transparency at accountability ng mga pondo,” said the lawmaker.
(It was tagged as a blank budget since it escapes public scrutiny because of the nature of the funds, so it is one of the barriers when it comes to transparency and accountability of funds.)
Elago also said the Duterte administration allocated P16 billion to the CIF from 2016 to 2021, which is six times bigger than the CIF of the Aquino administration.
Deputy Executive Secretary for Internal Audit Alberto Bernardo defended the CIF, saying it is needed to assess foreign and local situations for the formulation of national policies. He also explained that a number of agencies under the OP were assigned to gather intelligence information.
Elago said that despite the huge CIF, terrorist attacks still happen.
“Mas mahalaga nga sa ganitong krisis sapagkat napatunayan natin kahit na mayroong pandemya ng COVID, mayroon pa rin tayong mga bombers na nangyari dito sa Sulu. Maraming nagsasamantala na mga terorista sa kaguluhan dulot ng COVID na magsasamantala para patalsikin ang seguridad ng bansang ito kaya mas nangangailangan tayo ng proteksyon," replied Bernardo.
(It is even more important in this crisis because we have proven that, despite the COVID pandemic, we still have bombers like what happened in Sulu. Many terrorists are taking advantage of the chaos caused by COVID to destabilize this country so we need more protection.)
Earlier, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said he will ask how the OP spent billions of pesos worth of CIF.
In today’s budget briefing, Kabataan Rep. Sarah Elago said 54% of the P8.23 billion fund under the OP for next year will go to the CIF. This year the OP was allocated P8.25 billion including the P4.5 billion CIF.
Elago said the P12.98 million per day budget for CIF should be used instead to purchase personal protective equipment and other items to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Natagurian itong blank budget dahil ito ay nakakatakas sa public scrutiny dahil nga dun sa nature ng funds kaya isa ito sa mga nagiging hadlang pagdating sa transparency at accountability ng mga pondo,” said the lawmaker.
(It was tagged as a blank budget since it escapes public scrutiny because of the nature of the funds, so it is one of the barriers when it comes to transparency and accountability of funds.)
Elago also said the Duterte administration allocated P16 billion to the CIF from 2016 to 2021, which is six times bigger than the CIF of the Aquino administration.
Deputy Executive Secretary for Internal Audit Alberto Bernardo defended the CIF, saying it is needed to assess foreign and local situations for the formulation of national policies. He also explained that a number of agencies under the OP were assigned to gather intelligence information.
Elago said that despite the huge CIF, terrorist attacks still happen.
“Mas mahalaga nga sa ganitong krisis sapagkat napatunayan natin kahit na mayroong pandemya ng COVID, mayroon pa rin tayong mga bombers na nangyari dito sa Sulu. Maraming nagsasamantala na mga terorista sa kaguluhan dulot ng COVID na magsasamantala para patalsikin ang seguridad ng bansang ito kaya mas nangangailangan tayo ng proteksyon," replied Bernardo.
(It is even more important in this crisis because we have proven that, despite the COVID pandemic, we still have bombers like what happened in Sulu. Many terrorists are taking advantage of the chaos caused by COVID to destabilize this country so we need more protection.)
Earlier, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said he will ask how the OP spent billions of pesos worth of CIF.
