President Rodrigo Duterte’s final budget in 2022, while prioritizing funding for COVID-19 response, has also appropriated a chunk to finance programs to ensure national security.
The proposed General Appropriations Act submitted to Congress has a total of P8.63 billion allocation to intelligence expenses (P4.95 billion) and confidential expenses (P3.67 billion) of various agencies.
As stated in the general provisions of the National Expenditure Program for fiscal year 2022, intelligence expenses are those related to intelligence information gathering activities of uniformed and military personnel as well as intelligence practitioners that have direct impact to national security.
Confidential expenses refer to those related to surveillance activities in civilian government agencies that are intended to support the mandate or operations of the agency.
Audit
Due to their nature, expenses under intelligence and confidential funds cannot be easily audited, unlike other regular expenditures of government agencies.
The Joint Circular No. 2015-01, issued by Commission on Audit (COA) and four other government bodies on January 8, 2015, governs the spending of intelligence and confidential funds, as well as the auditing of expenses under it.
While regular government expenses are audited by a designated team from COA, reports on the use of intelligence funds are submitted to the President, while those on the use of confidential funds are sent to the President, Senate President, Speaker of the House or to the Secretary of the DILG.
However, in his veto message in the 2021 budget, Duterte nixed a provision that requires intelligence fund use reports to Congress, saying he is duty-bound to protect national security.
All activities involving intelligence gathering that have a direct impact on national security and public safety shall be reported directly to me,” Duterte had said.
“I have to directly veto the proviso… which effectively requires the submission of quarterly reports on the use of intelligence funds to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate of the Philippines,” he added.
Duterte gets half
Of the total intelligence and confidential funds, the Office of the President will get P4.5 billion, which accounts for more than half of the proposed amount.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) was proposed to get P80.6 million for its confidential expenses. The Philippine National Police, which is under the DILG, was allotted with P806.02 million for its intelligence expenses.
Part of the crime prevention and suppression program of the police force include the conduct of police patrol operations and other related confidential activities against dissidents, subversives, lawless elements and organized crime syndicates and campaign against kidnapping, trafficking of women and minors, smuggling, carnapping, gunrunning, illegal fishing and trafficking of illegal drugs.
Further, the PNP is also allotted with P1.08 billion for the End of Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) program.
The budget being proposed for the National Task Force-ELCAC has received criticisms as the huge amount, worth P28.1 billion, could instead be used for COVID-19 efforts and to assist individuals and families hit by the pandemic, according to some groups.
A total of P37 million confidential funds and P10 million intelligence funds are being proposed for the Office of the Secretary of the Department of National Defense.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines will get P1.24 billion for its intelligence expenses, according to the budget proposal.
As indicated in the special provisions of the proposed Philippine military budget, “no appropriations authorized under the AFP as intelligence fund shall be released or disbursed for intelligence activities, including amounts sourced from savings, unless approved by the President of the Philippines.”
“The use of savings to augment intelligence funds is subject to prior approval of the President of the Philippines, upon joint recommendation by the Secretary of National Defense and the Secretary of Budget and Management,” it added.
The AFP’s major services will also have an allocation for their intelligence expenses: Philippine Army (P444 million), Philippine Air Force (P17 million), and the Philippine Navy (P39.749 million).
Intelligence gathering and operations are among the responsibility of the military to combat lawless elements.
The National Security Council, meanwhile, has a proposed confidential fund of P90 million.
One of the programs of the agency is the National Security Management Program wherein guidance and supervision is being given to the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) and the intelligence community.
NICA has been allotted with P140.2 million for its intelligence expenses and P1 million for its confidential expenses.
Among the operations which NICA focuses on are relevant intelligence on national security issues and concerns expeditiously communicated to the President and the National Security Council.
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, the leading agency in the government’s campaign against illegal drugs, is allocated with P500 million confidential funds under the proposed budget.
The anti-illegal drugs campaign has since been one of the priority projects of the Duterte administration.
The House of Representatives has started its deliberations on the proposed budget of various agencies on Thursday.
A total of P5.024 trillion budget is being sought for fiscal year 2022, a crucial period as the country aims to recover from effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Malacanang said.—LDF, GMA News
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