The Senate committee on finance on Monday, October 2, approved the proposed 2021 budget of the Office of the President (OP), which includes P4.5 billion in confidential and intelligence funds.

A Senate finance subcommittee led by Senator Bong Go, President Rodrigo Duterte’s former aide, cleared the OP’s P8.239-billion proposed budget, along with the Presidential Management Staff’s P715.6 million.

The hearing lasted 31 minutes – one of the fastest this budget season so far.

The OP’s proposed 2021 budget is slightly lower than its P8.25-billion budget in 2020. One factor is the decrease in the agency’s allocation for travel expenses, which went down from P671 million in 2020 to a proposed P283 million next year.

Meanwhile, proposed allocations for the OP’s P2.25-billion “confidential expenses” and another P2.25 billion for “intelligence expenses” were unchanged from 2020. Totaling P4.5 billion, these funds make up more than half of the OP’s proposed 2021 budget.

Excessive

In an interview with the ABS-CBN News Channel on September 11, Senator Panfilo Lacson said he found the OP’s intel funds “a bit too much.” The President also has control over the intel funds of other agencies in the Executive, he added.

Lacson then said he would ask questions and seek clarifications about the OP’s intel funds when the agency’s budget comes up for discussion at the Senate. However, on Monday, Lacson was leading a simultaneous finance committee hearing on the proposed 2021 budget of the Department of National Defense when the OP’s budget was taken up.

Lacson will have another chance to scrutinize the OP’s proposed budget when it reaches the Senate plenary in a few weeks.

No questions

Senate finance committee chief Senator Sonny Angara was present at the OP budget hearing, but raised no questions.

With no other senators present to ask questions, Angara proposed to approve the OP’s 2021 budget at the committee level “with favorable recommendation and possible augmentation” when it reaches the plenary. Go accepted Angara’s proposal and concluded the hearing.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea led the OP’s contingent that made the budget presentation before the Senate panel.

Before he became senator, Go was Special Assistant to the President and was part of the OP.

When the House of Representatives tackled the OP’s proposed 2021 budget on September 14, Kabataan Representative Sarah Elago and other progressive lawmakers questioned the need for the P4.5-billion intel fund.

Hard to audit

Noting that this fund would be difficult to audit because it is not itemized, Elago said it could instead be used to buy more COVID-19 test kits and to strengthen the public healthcare system.

Commission on Audit chief Michael Aguinaldo told the House on September 16 that the OP’s intel funds are difficult to vet precisely because of their secrecy. Because recipients such as government informants and assets are not named, auditors are unable to check reimbursements and payments made with these funds.

Congressional hearings of high-ranking government agencies’ budgets at times proceed quickly. For instance, a Senate finance panel approved the proposed 2021 budget of the Office of the Vice President in just 21 minutes on September 30. – Rappler.com