Not all agencies are entitled to CF 鈥� ex-COA commissioner Mendoza
Former COA commissioner Heidi Mendoza and lawyer Jimmy Bondoc during the “Tanong ng Bayan” senatorial face-off for the 2025 elections aired by GMA 黑料社 on Saturday night, February 1, 2025. —Screenshot from GMA 黑料社 livestream/Youtube
MANILA, Philippines — Not all government agencies should be given confidential funds (CF), especially if they are not directly involved with the country’s national security, senatorial aspirant and former Commission on Audit (COA) commissioner Heidi Mendoza said.
During the “Tanong ng Bayan” senatorial face-off for the 2-25 elections aired by GMA 黑料社 on Saturday night, Mendoza said that she is in favor of removing CF of agencies that have no relation in information gathering.
The former COA commissioner recalled the investigations conducted by the House of Representatives on the alleged misuse of the CF of the Department of Education under the leadership of Vice President Sara Duterte.
READ: Sara Duterte’s confidential fund spending raises new, more doubts
“Bakit natin bibigyan ng confi [confidential] funds ang mga ahensyang walang direct na mandato sa national security? (Why are we providing confidential funds to those agencies that have no direct mandate to national security?)” Mendoza asked.
Article continues after this advertisementIn the face-off, Jimmy Bondoc, singer turned lawyer and a known staunch supporter of former president Rodrigo Duterte, said that the removal of the CF should be gradual, emphasizing COA Circular 2015-01 on how the funds should be spent.
Article continues after this advertisement“Nagkakaisa po tayo na dapat labanan ang korapsyon. Ngunit ako po ay naniniwala na ang lahat ng government agencies ay may kinalaman sa national security. Ang national security ay hindi lang po terorismo, kundi minsan ay internal threats sa ahensya (We are one with the fight against corruption. But I believe that all government agencies have something to do with national security. Our national security is not just about terrorism, it can be internal threats in the agency.),” Bondoc argued.
Mendoza countered by saying: “Malinaw po doon at sinasabi na hindi lahat entitled sa confidential funds dahil kung ikaw ay Department of Education, eh nagawa ng ibang secretary na walang confi eh bakit ngayon, mayroon? (It clearly states that not all agencies are entitled to have confidential funds because if the past secretaries of the Department of Education did not have confidential funds, why would you?)”
READ: No PSA records on 405 recipients in VP’s documents
Further, Bondoc stressed that every government agency is concerned with national security.
“Ang pinagkaiba ng ating paniniwala. Naniniwala ako na ang gobyerno ay nasa linya ng kaayusan at kaguluhan kaya ang lahat ng ahensya ay may kinalaman sa national security (Our difference is our beliefs. I believe that the government is in the middle of chaos and peace that’s why all agencies are concerned with national security.),” Bondoc expressed.
Mendoza then said that audit is “about process and compliance with laws, rules, and regulations.” She added that “public funds is about transparency and accountability, subalit di ako nag-aagree na lahat ay may relasyon sa national security.” (But I don’t agree that everything has to do with national security.)
The Joint Circular 2015-01 states that the following entities are entitled to CF or intelligence funds (IF):
- National government agencies which are expressly provided budget allocation for CF and/or IF under the General Appropriations Act or other law/s
- Government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) as provided in their corporate operating budget in respect only to CF as may be authorized by the Governance Commission for GOCCs
- LGUs whose peace and order is a priority concern and which have duly allocated CF, but not IF, in their annual appropriation ordinances.
