COA told: Release info on Office of the President鈥檚 secret funds
The Commission on Audit (COA) should release details of its findings on how the Office of the President (OP) spent its P4.5 billion confidential and intelligence fund (CIF), according to the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan. INQUIRER FILES
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) should release details of its findings on how the Office of the President (OP) spent its P4.5 billion confidential and intelligence fund (CIF).
“The Office of the President spent almost half of the total P10.4-billion confidential and intelligence fund allocation for 2023, with a combined total of P4.56 billion. That is a mind-blowing amount,” Renato Reyes, president of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), said in a statement Tuesday.
“In the name of transparency and accountability, COA should release all its audit findings on the OP’s confidential and intel funds. In the same way, the public scrutinized the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) confidential funds, so too should we examine the OP’s confidential and intel funds which are several times way bigger than the OVP’s,” he added.
Based on a 2023 COA report released this month, state auditors found that the office of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had P4.57 billion in confidential, intelligence, and extraordinary expenses – higher than the P4.50 billion recorded in 2022.
READ: COA: Marcos’ office spent over P2 billion in confidential funds in 2023
Article continues after this advertisementOf the P4.57 billion, confidential expenses amounted to P2.2 billion; intelligence, P2.3 billion; and extraordinary and miscellaneous, more than P10 million.
Article continues after this advertisementAnother COA report showed that the OVP had P375 million in confidential expenses in 2023, almost triple the amount recorded the previous year at P125 million.
READ: Secret fund use hits P10 billion; OVP outspends 4 security agencies
The COA report likewise stated that OVP’s confidential expenses exceeded that of the security and law enforcement agencies such as the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (P127.4 million); National Security Council (P90 million); National Bureau of Investigation (P146.1 million); Department of National Defense (P78.9 million); and Department of the Interior and Local Government (P75 million).
