From feeding programs to tree planting, Sara says confidential funds used across the board

Cristina Chi - Philstar.com

September 4, 2023 | 1:01pm

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte bared on Monday that nearly all major social welfare and public assistance programs under her office use confidential funds.

During the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) budget briefing in the Senate, a more forthcoming Duterte reiterated that the confidential funds received by the OVP are used mainly for the “safe, secure and successful implementation of the projects, programs and activities” of her office, which she also enumerated.

Duterte was responding to a question by Sen. Risa Hontiveros who asked whether all the OVP projects and programs Duterte enumerated during the briefing — as well as her functions as vice president and two other roles in government — were funded by confidential expenditures. 

The vice president answered in the affirmative.

Duterte’s programs 

Duterte enumerated the following programs of the OVP which she confirmed were covered or supported by confidential expenses. Some of these, such as the Libreng Sakay and tree-planting programs, are the OVP’s flagship public assistance projects that were launched early into Duterte’s term in 2022.

“In addition to that I discharge the functions and duties of the Secretary of (the Department of Education). And in addition to that, I was tasked by the president to co-chair (the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict),” Duterte said.

“And in addition to that I also took on the role of the (president) of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization,” the vice president added.

“And all of these activities use confidential funds,” Duterte said.

Duterte’s response to Hontiveros is the first time the vice president has revealed — at least in broad terms — how the OVP has used its confidential funds since it first acquired the controversial lump sum in 2022. 

Hontiverous, however, pointed out that Duterte's other roles in DepEd and the NTF-ELCAC already have their own allocation of confidential expenses. 

Hontiveros also said that under the guidelines for confidential expenses, these can only be used for a "limited range of purposes," specifically those that are related to surveillance activities.

A 2015 joint circular covering the use of confidential and intelligence funds limits the use of confidential expenses to activities related to surveillance and information-gathering.

“So in broad terms, which activities enumerated in the joint circular are used (by the OVP) with confidential expenses?” Hontiveros asked in a mix of English and Filipino.

Duterte replied: “It varies. Not all activities are the same for each day and each month. The liquidation report of the confidential funds includes the enumeration of the use of the OVP.”

Duterte added that the OVP submits a liquidation of the confidential funds and “a list of activities” it was used for to the offices of the Senate President, the House Speaker and other concerned offices.

The senate finance panel on Monday approved the P2.385-billion proposed budget of the OVP after only Hontiveros and Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel questioned Duterte about the controversial funds. 

Sen. Bong Revilla ended the budget deliberations early out of "respect and courtesy" to Duterte. 

Makabayan bloc lawmakers last week criticized Duterte for refusing to field questions about the OVP’s confidential expenses after the House ended the agency’s budget briefing in just 15 minutes out of “parliamentary courtesy.” 

Before this, Duterte had blasted Rep. France Castro (ACT Teachers) for accusing her of illegally acquiring confidential funds through budget adjustments in 2022.

Scammer caught using confidential funds 

Duterte also said that the surveillance activities funded by the OVP's confidential expenses had led to the arrest of a scammer posing as an OVP representative to “sell” livelihood projects in Bulacan.

“As an example, we did a surveillance of complaints from constituents in Bulacan with regard to the selling of OVP assistance and selling of TUPAD projects in Bulacan. There was a surveillance operation that was run by the (Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group) for about a month,” Duterte said.

Duterte said they were able to apprehend the scammer and “successfully prosecute the case.”

“And that person went to jail for six months. That's an example of the surveillance activities conducted by the VPSPG for the projects and activities of the OVP,” Duterte said.

Hontiveros asked Duterte whether the OVP coordinated with the government’s main intelligence agency, the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, and the Philippine National Police to gather intelligence.

Duterte said: “No. Intelligence starts with the communities and stakeholders. If there are complaints, then it is built up from intelligence and surveillance.”

The vice president also said there is no “reduplication” of efforts to gather intelligence as different agencies have different mandates.

Duterte also maintained that the confidential funds her office has requested each year since 2022 is something that her office “can live without.”

“The OVP can only propose the use of confidential funds based on joint circular 2015-01. But we leave it to the discretion (of Congress) who has the power of the purse to decide whether to grant confidential funds to our office. We can only propose. But we are not insisting,” Duterte said.

“We can live without confidential funds. But of course, our work will be much easier if we have the flexibility of confidential funds to monitor the safe, secure and successful implementation of the programs, projects and activities of the OVP,” she added.

In total, Duterte stands to get P650 million in confidential and intelligence funds in the proposed 2024 budget. At least P500 million will go to the OVP and P150 million will go to DepEd (P150 million), according to the 2024 National Expenditure Program.