News Roundup 24 August 2023
Aug 24, 2023 • 5 min Read
COA eyes revisiting rules on confidential and intel funds | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Recent increases in confidential and intelligence funds allocated to various government agencies have led the Commission on Audit to seek a review of the rules governing its use, officials told a House panel on Thursday.
Amid criticisms that too many civilian agencies have been given funds for intelligence-gathering, an official from COA said they will be revising the 2015 joint circular that sets the guidelines for it.
“We will try to convene an interagency committee with the same agencies that promulgated the rules to update (the joint circular). 2015 is a long time, that’s eight years ago,” COA Chairperson Gamaliel Cordoba said.
Signatories of the joint circular besides COA are the Department of Budget and Management, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Governance Commission for Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations and the Department of National Defense.
Cordoba’s statement was in response to an inquiry by Rep. Raoul Manuel, who said COA must also reexamine the guidelines for CIFs when necessary.
“Because COA is part of the agencies listed (in the joint circular) and COA has a priority thrust… You will revisit all existing rules and regulations,” Manuel said in a mix of English and Filipino.
“Now that we have quantitative and qualitative change in how CIFs are used, is COA open to amending joint circular 2015-01?” Manuel asked.
Government rules on CIFs give agencies the right to refuse to publicly disclose how the lump sum is spent — a running point of criticism flung at agencies like the Department of Education, which has P150 million in CIFs in its proposed 2024 budget.
Full Story at: COA eyes revisiting rules on confidential and intel funds | Philstar.com
Senator pushes for increased PCG funds to enhance West Philippine Sea defense | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Increasing hostilities from Chinese vessels and its threats to the safety of Philippine Coast Guard necessitate greater funding for their intelligence operations, Sen. Risa Hontiveros said.
Hontiveros said that beefing up the PCG’s intelligence funds — discreet funds an agency uses to gather information — would help it better perform its mandate in patrolling the West Philippine Sea.
She said this in her privilege speech on Senate Resolution 744, a recently filed resolution that calls for a Senate inquiry into measures that would strengthen the PCG and improve its role in protecting the country’s maritime zones.
Addressing her colleagues, Hontiveros urged them to back the increase of the PCG’s funds to be able to “arm them with advanced equipment – such as radar stations, automatic identification systems (AIS) hardware and others.”
This would make it more possible for the country “more effectively hold China accountable for her hostile, aggressive, and illegal actions in the West Philippine Sea,”
Hontiveros also pointed out that despite the PCG facing “a clear and present danger” from Chinese presence in the tense waterways, funding for PCG operations remains limited.
Full Story at: Senator pushes for increased PCG funds to enhance West Philippine Sea defense | Philstar.com
Party-list solon to COA: Probe VP Sara’s P125-M confidential funds in 2022 | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker has asked the Commission on Audit (COA) to investigate the presence of confidential funds (CF) in the Office of the Vice President (OVP) report for 2022 — under incumbent Vice President Sara Duterte — as the budget given to the same office under Leni Robredo did not have any.
At the deliberations of COA’s proposed budget for 2024, ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro pointed out that when the 2022 budget was crafted, OVP — then under vice president Robredo — had no CF.
Robredo’s term expired the morning of June 30, while Duterte — who won in the 2022 national elections along with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. — started her term in the afternoon of the same day. This means while Duterte was vice president from July to December 2022, the office’s budget was crafted and submitted by Robredo’s OVP.
Hence, Castro believes the presence of the CF on OVP’s later reports indicates that existing OVP funds for 2022 were realigned to a confidential component.
“Napansin ko po no’ng 2022, merong confidential fund yung OVP na P125 million. This is 2022 — tama po ba? Tama po ba yung aking information?” Castro asked, which COA Chairperson Gamaliel Cordoba confirmed.
(I’ve observed that for 2022, the OVP has a confidential fund worth P125 million. This is 2022 — is that correct? Is my information correct?)
“So nakalagay ‘yan do’n sa GAA (General Appropriations Act) 2022, tama po? So inimbestigahan po ba ng COA or may report po ba ang OVP that time, dito sa P125 million na confidential fund?” Castro added.
(So it was placed on the GAA for 2022, right? Is the COA investigating this or has the OVP submitted a report on the P125 million na confidential fund?)
Cordoba in response said that OVP under Duterte has submitted compliance reports and liquidation reports — and that COA is currently evaluating these.
However, Castro believes that this issue merits an investigation because it appears to have been realigned to a non-existent item in the 2022 national budget or the GAA.
Full Story at: Party-list solon to COA: Probe VP Sara’s P125-M confidential funds in 2022 | Inquirer News
Cagayan Gov. Mamba released from House detention after SC’s TRO | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba has been released by the House of Representatives from detention after the Supreme Court (SC) issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against two house panel’s decision to cite the official in contempt.
Based on information from House Sergeant-at-Arms Napoleon Taas, the House committee on public accounts and the committee on suffrage and electoral reforms decided on Thursday to grant the motion of Sagip party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta to release Mamba.
“During the special meeting of the Committee on Public Accounts joint with the Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms, by motion of Hon. Marcoleta, Governor Mamba is released from detention today at 9:11 PM and the Sergeant-at-Arms is ordered to implement the same based on his Statement of Undertaking,” Taas said.
Full Story at: Cagayan Gov. Mamba released from House detention after SC’s TRO | Inquirer News
