FACT CHECK: Sara Duterte wrongly claims law bars discussion on confidential funds

Vice President Sara Duterte has claimed that a law prohibits her from discussing confidential funds. This is false; no such law exists.

What governs confidential funds is a joint circular among five government agencies led by the Commission on Audit (COA) that requires submission of quarterly reports on the spending of confidential and intelligence funds.

STATEMENT

Responding to reporters’ questions during a break in the public hearing of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability on Nov. 25, the vice president said:

“This is the reason why we don’t want to discuss confidential funds, and ‘yan, kaya may batas na bawal pag-usapan ang confidential funds. Paulit-ulit, ulit na naming sinasabi sa House of Representatives.”

(This is the reason why we don’t want to discuss confidential funds, and that’s why we have a law disallowing us from talking about confidential funds. We’ve been saying that over and over again to the House of Representatives.)

Source: ABS-CBN News, Q: Tama po ba yung testimony ni former DepEd SDO Edward Fajarda…, Nov. 25, 2024

FACT

There is no such law prohibiting public officials or government agencies from discussing confidential funds appropriated to their offices.

What exists is Joint Circular 2015-01, issued on Jan. 28. 2015 by the COA, Department of Budget and Management, Department of Interior and Local Government, Governance Commission for GOCCs and the Department of National Defense. The circular provides the guidelines on the entitlement, release, use, reporting and audit of confidential and intelligence funds.

Nothing in the circular prohibits discussion of confidential funds. It says, however, that “the utilization of such funds is generally confidential and classified by nature, which requires not only strong internal controls in the release and utilization thereof, but also strict accounting and auditing rules to prevent mishandling or improper application of the funds.”

It also requires national government agencies, local government units and government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) to submit quarterly reports on how they spent the confidential and intelligence funds.

Because of the sensitive nature of confidential and intelligence funds, the guidelines provide that the reports must be marked as “confidential” and submitted to the COA by the designated security officers of the agencies.

The reports are then audited by the Intelligence and Confidential Fund Audit Unit of the COA, assessed separately from agencies’ annual expenditures.

In the absence of a law regulating the disbursement of confidential funds, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, former senator Leila De Lima and House minority lawmakers filed several bills over the past decade seeking to impose more transparency and accountability in the reporting process.

BACKSTORY

The House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability has been investigating the vice president’s alleged misuse of P612.50 million confidential funds lodged in the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education in 2022 to 2023 when Duterte was Education secretary.

The investigation was triggered by a privilege speech delivered by Manila Rep. Rolando Valeriano on Sept. 3, assailing Duterte’s refusal to answer questions raised during the Committee on Appropriations’ hearing on the proposed 2025 budget for the OVP.

As a consequence of the vice president’s uncooperative stance during the budget deliberation, the House slashed the OVP’s proposed budget for 2025 by P1.29 billion, leaving it with only P733.20 million and no allocation for confidential use.

Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo, vice chairperson of the House Committee on Appropriations, said on Sept. 12 that the amount slashed from the OVP’s proposed budget was realigned to the assistance programs of the Department of Health and the Department of Social Welfare and Development.