Palace: OP confidential funds properly documented, have receipts

Malacañang on Wednesday defended anew the Office of the President’s (OP) proposed P4.56 billion in confidential funds for 2027, saying that their confidential funds in the past had bulks of receipts. Criticisms against the OP’s confidential funds came as Vice President Sara Duterte is undergoing an impeachment trial over her alleged misuse of the confidential and intelligence funds, among other Articles of Impeachment. “Kapag nagri-report po ang OP pagdating sa confidential funds ay bultu-bulto po ang mga dokumento at hindi po gumagamit ng mga resibo na maaaring masabing kuwestiyonable,” Palace Press Officer Claire Castro told reporters. (When the OP makes its reports about the confidential funds, the documentation is in bulk and this does not use recruits that could be questionable.) Earlier, Executive Secretary Ralph Recto said the CIF (confidential and intelligence funds) that the Office of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is seeking constitutes roughly 45% of its proposed P10.15 billion budget for the next fiscal year. “Number one, the President is the chief executive officer. The President is the head of state, so his first job is to ensure law and order, and diyan ginagastos ‘yung confidential fund (that is where the confidential funds are used),” he said. “With regard to intelligence funds, he is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. ‘Yan naman napakahalaga (that is very important) for our national security,” he added. Meanwhile, Castro said the OP could easily justify its fund usage to the Senate. Asked about the former Education Undersecretary Michale Poa taking the witness stand at the impeachment trial, Castro declined to comment. However, she did raise the previous findings of the House Committee on Good Governance under then chair Rep. Joel Chua. She recounted how former DepEd Undersecretary Nolasco Mempin had been asked to look for certifications to justify the use of confidential funds to the Commission on Audit. Mempin would be able to secure these from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, with the Youth Leadership Summit being used as an excuse. “Ang supporting documents ba ay gagamitin lamang para magkaroon ng rason dahil nagastos ang P15 million or dapat mayroon talagang allocated na 15 million for a particular operation?” Castro said, (Are supporting documents used as a reason to justify spending P15 million or should there be P15 million allocated for a specific program?) — RSJ, GMA News