Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri falsely claimed on Nov. 7 that confidential funds can be used to repair classrooms.
STATEMENT
Answering a question from the media on the proposal of Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel to augment the budget for areas that suffer from calamities by realigning the confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs) in the 2023 national budget, Zubiri said he had no problems with it. He explained:
“Wouldn’t it be easier kung may confidential funds ka na ibibigay sa mga eskwelahan na nangangailangan ng bubong? May pondo ka na, eh. You have to remember na kung maglalagay ka ng eskwelahan sa isang lugar, naka-earmark na ‘yan. Kung walang bagyo dun, paano iyong karatig na bayan na natamaan ng bagyo o natamaan ng flash flood at sila ang nangangailangan?”
(Wouldn’t it be easier if you have confidential funds for schools that need a roof? You already have funds. You have to remember that when you build a school in one place, that’s already earmarked. If there’s no typhoon there, how about the neighboring town hit by a typhoon or flash floods that needs funds?)
Source: Senate of the Philippines, Transcription of Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri’s Press Conference, Nov. 7, 2022
The senator further said:
“I’m not that sure with co-regulations but baka pwedeng (perhaps), under the confidential funds, iyong pangangailangan nila ng (their need for) emergency funds for repairs or things like that bakit hindi (why not)?”
Source: Senate of the Philippines, Transcription of Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri’s Press Conference, Nov. 7, 2022
FACT
A 2015 Commission on Audit (COA) set of guidelines defines confidential expenses as lump sum amounts for “surveillance activities in civilian government agencies.” It categorically states that “in no case shall (confidential or intelligence funds) be used for … construction or acquisition of buildings or housing structures.”
Intelligence expenses, on the other hand, refer to disbursements for “intelligence information gathering activities of uniformed personnel and intelligence practitioners.”
(Read VERA FILES FACT SHEET: Three things you need to know about confidential and intelligence funds)
COA issued the guidelines with the Department of Budget and Management, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of National Defense and the Governance Commission for Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations through Joint Circular No. 2015-01.
BACKSTORY
After two weeks of plenary debates, the Senate approved on Nov. 23 the proposed P5.27-trillion national budget for 2023. While the aggregate amount proposed by Malacanang was unchanged, the senators realigned at least P170 million in confidential funds of various government agencies to their maintenance and other operating expenses.
The minority bloc in the chamber had raised concerns about the P9.29 billion in CIFs in the proposed General Appropriations Act, particularly those in the budget for the Office of the President and DepEd.
The senators kept the P4.5 billion in CIFs at the disposal of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. but cut down to P30 million Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio’s P150-million proposed confidential funds under the DepEd.
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Sources
Senate of the Philippines, Transcription of Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri’s Press Conference, Nov. 7, 2022
Sen. Koko Pimentel calls for the realignment of CIFs to disaster response
- Inquirer.net, Re-channel confidential, intelligence funds to calamity response —Pimentel, Nov. 3, 2022
- Manila Bulletin, Pimentel: Re-channel non-essential expenditures to calamity response, Nov. 3, 2022
- PhilStar, Pimentel: Realign confidential, intel funds for disaster response, Nov. 3, 2022
Commission on Audit, Joint Circular No. 2015-01, Jan. 8, 2015
Department of Budget and Management, Senate approves 2023 General Appropriations Bill, Nov. 23, 2022
Senate Minority Bloc raises concerns on CIFs
- ABS-CBN News, Pag-alis ng P9.3-B ‘confidential funds’ itinutulak ng Senate minority, Nov. 16, 2022
- Manila Bulletin, Senate minority bloc vows to push for realignment of OVP, DepEd confidential funds, Nov. 15, 2022
- OneNews PH, Senate Minority Bloc Seeks Realignment Of Intel Funds, Nov. 16, 2022
Senate of the Philippines, Transcript of Interpellation Senator Risa Hontiveros with Senator Sonny Angara on DepEd Confidential Fund Amendment, Nov. 23, 2022
(Guided by the code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network at Poynter, VERA Files tracks the false claims, flip-flops, misleading statements of public officials and figures, and debunks them with factual evidence. Find out more about this initiative and our methodology.)
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