Senate committee strengthens sealing of secret funds
he Senate Committee on Intelligence and Secrecy Fund Oversight (CIF) issued self-imposed rules aimed at preventing the publication of information related to secret allocations and imposing sanctions on with senators able to release that information to the public.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, who heads the five-member committee, did not respond Thursday when asked to clarify whether the rules include disclosure of abusive use of CIF.
Senators who violate disclosure rules face suspension or expulsion from the Senate.
Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III, who represents the opposition on the committee, said he and others were not prevented from disclosing and discussing their “observations and conclusions” about the reports of Use CIF.
“Here is the purpose of the exam:
please consider and give your opinion,” he told the Inquirer in a Viber message on Thursday.The Commission was “reactivated” to exercise “vigilant legislative oversight” over the “use, disbursement and expenditure” of CIF by government agencies as well as “activities, sources, methods and their laws and intelligence programs.
Sara’s requests
The regulations were made public following the renewed controversy over Vice President Sara Duterte’s CIF demands on her office and the Department of Education (DepEd), of which she is also secretary.
The commission’s four-page document released Wednesday outlines the rules, which do not specify sanctions for individuals who disclose CIF information obtained by the commission.
The rules cover access and handling of information received by the committee on the use of CIF by government agencies and how they spend the confidential money in their budget proposals.
The Commission has the authority, among others, to review all CIFs, review all submissions and reports from the various government agencies that have received the funds and review all regulatory requirements.rules, policies and publications of governing bodies, including the Audit Committee, on “rights, release, use and reporting” of CIF.
The Committee prohibits the disclosure of “specific information, details and documents” about the CIF obtained from documents submitted to the Senate.
These information and documents “may not be disclosed or discussed in front of the media”.
During discussions in the Senate on Monday on the budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP), Duterte confirmed that his office received 125 million pesos in secret funds last year, through a purported transfer from the Office of the President (OP).
The 2022 General Finance Law did not allocate CIF to the ÖVP, then headed by vice-president Leni Robredo.
“We requested the secret funds from the Office of the President as early as August 2022 and we did not receive the secret funds until December 2022,” the vice president told senators..
Opposition senators Pimentel and Risa Hontiveros questioned the transfer of 125 million pesos in secret funds to the OVP from the PO’s reserve fund.
Quimbo explanation
marikina rep,Stella Luz Quimbo, senior vice chair of the House Appropriations Committee, defended OVP’s CIF 125 million last year, saying in an interview with ANC that “everything is legal.”
“The budget item related to the secret and intelligence fund, which already exists in 2022 [for OVP].
It turned out the amount was zero,” she explained.
ACT teacher representative France Castro disputed this, telling the Inquirer that what Quimbo cited was a simple “category” of OVP’s maintenance and other operating costs and could not be called a “post” as such.
so because it wasn’t funded in the first place.
Castro said a 2014 Supreme Court ruling prohibited “increasing” an unfunded amount.The President can veto a position if he or she disagrees with that specific funding.
A presidential veto is not necessary for an unfunded position.
The 2022 budgets of at least 10 other ministries, including the Ministry of Labor and Employment and the Ministry of Health, seen by the Inquirer all have the heading “secrets, information and irregular spending”, but only contain measures newly sponsored special.but one case
Quimbo told the Inquirer that the plenary discussions on the PO and OVP budgets will be an opportunity to discuss the national spending plan.
When asked if she would raise questions about the CIF during the budget plenary, Quimbo replied:“Yes, it’s very important.
We need to know how money has been spent in the past so we can plan for future funding.
No letup
Opposition lawmakers in the House of Representatives said on Thursday they would continue to question the CIF allocation to OVP and OP.
“Maintaining the principles of transparency, accountability and appropriate allocation of public funds is critical to ensuring good governance and protecting happiness of the Filipino people”..“We will return to this issue in the plenary session and even outside the National Assembly,” they said.
Another opposition representative, Edcel Lagman of Albay, said he would also question the PO and OVP’s CIF once they advance to the plenary session on September 18.
“You can rest assured that I will continue to advocate against secret funds in plenary debates,” Lagman told the Inquirer in a text message.
Last week, Castro and Manuel attempted to review and audit a secret fund worth P500 million in the OVP’s proposed P2.
4 billion budget for next year.Discussions on the OVP’s proposed budget were suddenly interrupted by the request of the Ilocos Norte Representative.
Sandro Marcos will show “congressional courtesy” to the vice president. Castro insisted on continuing the discussion when his microphone was turned off.
3categories
The Senate CIF Oversight Committee also includes Majority Leader Joel Villanueva, Finance Committee Chairman Sen.
Sonny Angara and Sen.
Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa.
According to Zubiri, Dela Rosa was included on the list because of his alleged expertise in the use of intelligence funds as a former Philippine National Police Chief.
Senate oversight rules classify information into three categories:
“top secret”, “secret” and “secret”.
Information is considered “top secret” if its unauthorized disclosure could cause “especially serious harm” to national security.
Unauthorized disclosure of “confidential” information also “endangers national security, causes serious harm to the interests or reputation of the nation or any government activity, or would bring great benefit to foreign countries”.The disclosure of “confidential” information, “whilst not endangering national security, peace, public order and safety, would be prejudicial to the interests or reputation of the country or activity government, or would cause administrative embarrassment or undue prejudice to a State.” individuals or will benefit foreign countries.
