FIRING LINE: Secret spending or splurging?

By Robert B. Roque, Jr.

For a lawyer who has been mayor and now Vice President and Secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd), I had expected sound reasoning from Inday Sara Duterte.

However, recent run-ins with the likes of Makabayan bloc lawmakers and Sen. Risa Hontiveros over the disposition of her confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) got me thinking if her discretion or moral compass or both are off.

Last week, when it was pointed out that the Philippine Coast Guard’s intelligence funds in the previous 11 years did not even amount to that of VP Sara’s confidential funds — P125 million of which she had spent in 11 days — her office made a lengthy defense anchored on the fact that it was not 11 days.

Whether it’s 11 or 19 days, it’s still an alarming amount of taxpayers’ money being used with questionable transparency. The real issue here isn’t just about the timeline but responsible and judicious spending.

Considering that her complete intel and confidential funds total P460 million this year in her twin capacity as VP and DepEd chief, how has her performance in either office fared to expectations? That’s a valid question because taxpayers expect their hard-earned money to be used wisely, not splurged with disregard.

Or is Inday Sara only good in burning through millions in intelligence funds but poor in funding programs that would improve basic education and make young Filipinos more intelligent?

At least, members of Congress came to their senses this year to strip VP Sara’s offices of the intelligence funds in favor of the military, Coast Guard, and national security agencies truly in need of such funding. Secret funds should be in the hands of those who can prove they’ll use them responsibly and effectively – in this case, to protect our sovereignty and security.

How much was VP Sara expecting – P650 million for next year – when she had nothing to show for this year?

 It’s only fair that party-list Rep. France Castro is asking the Commission on Audit (COA) to take a closer look at how Davao City’s confidential funds were spent when VP Sara was still the mayor because, as per records, she burned through an astonishing P2.7 billion in secret funds from 2016 to 2022.

Let’s not forget that Davao City’s confidential expenses exceeded even those of wealthier cities like Makati and Quezon City. That’s such a crazy amount of secret spending – P1.24 million a day for six years in Davao City, to be exact. It begs the question of whether these funds were used for the benefit of the public or other, less noble purposes.

Perhaps this excessive reliance on confidential funds during her time as mayor has led Inday Sara to seek a whopping P650 million in confidential funds for her national office. Well, her best friend in the House, Speaker Martin Romualdez, seemed to take care of that, ensuring that she would be above suspicion in 2024.

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