“Why are there billions in secret funds when the urgent needs for aid, free education and medical services, affordable housing, and so on are piling up?" ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro said.
Budget Briefing (Committee) Office of the President (OP). House of Representatives/YouTube.
Owing to a "parliamentary courtesy," President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s P10.70 billion proposed budget for his office for 2024 swept through the House Committee on Appropriations on Tuesday in less than 40 minutes.
Tensions flared, however, when members of the Makabayan bloc tried–but failed—to oppose the termination of the deliberations without scrutinizing the OP's budget.
"The highest form of courtesy in this country should be extended to the Filipino people, that the people have the right to know how the public funds are spent, and that should prevail at all times," Kabataan Rep. Raoul Manuel said in his manifestation.
ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro first objected to Abra Rep. Ching Bernos' motion to terminate the hearing but later withdrew, prompting Manuel to intervene to make their manifestation first before ending the budget deliberations.
"I don't believe that it's proper for us to terminate the deliberations without the manifestations becoming part of the records of the House. We should give the members their right and the time to pursue their objections. We can't rush it again, Madam Chair. Again, the budget that is being discussed here is the Office of the President," Manuel said.
Presiding chairperson Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo, however, carried Bernos' motion and terminated the hearing before allowing the members of the Makabayan bloc to raise their concerns in a two-minute manifestation.
"At the point that the objection was withdrawn, then automatically the motion to terminate the budget briefing was carried," Quimbo said.
The three-member Makabayan bloc, namely, Manuel, Castro and Gabriela Partylist Rep. Arlene Brosas, mainly argued why the OP approved the P1.25 million confidential funds of Vice President Sara Duterte notwithstanding that it was excluded under the General Appropriations Act in 2022.
They also questioned the "excessive" travel expenses of the OP worth P1.15 billion and its P4.5-billion confidential and intelligence funds.
"Regarding the confidential and intelligence funds, for the record, there are many of our compatriots who do not agree with this, given the record high confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President. But if we compare the OP's CIF, it is significantly larger [than the OVP]," Manuel stressed.
Manuel said the confidential funds under the OP are P2.25 billion, while the intelligence funds are P2.31 billion. In total, he said, the CIF constitutes 43 percent of the OP's proposed budget.
Echoing Manuel, Castro, meanwhile, argued that instead of giving the OP "courtesy" and "respect," members of Congress must not allow secrecy and silence to prevail when the concerns of the Filipino people are too loud and echoing.
"Why are there billions in secret funds when the urgent needs for aid, free education and medical services, affordable housing, and so on are piling up? Castro said.
The teacher solon also quizzed the OP if their P4.56 billion CIF would lower the price of rice, other food in the market, electricity, water, and basic commodities. According to Castro, the OP must not go with the CIF trend, which first ballooned during the Duterte administration, as it goes against the Constitution and deprives Filipinos of transparency and full public disclosure.
"This trend must not continue. This is against the policies of transparency and full public disclosure especially in matters related to public money, the government's obligation to fight graft, corruption, plunder, and other hocus pocus on the public's wealth, and other mandates of the Constitution," she said. "
"We believe that the refusal of the OP, as well as the OVP, to undergo public deliberations regarding their budget especially their confidential and intelligence funds is just one of the increasing reasons why instead of approving their 'black budgets,' they should even be abolished."
In a similar vein, Brosas voiced concern that Mr. Marcos may have a hand in the unprogrammed funds and even the special purpose funds, given that the P4.5 billion confidential and intelligence funds are only part of the more than P1 trillion funds that the President will control next year.
"The numbers are overwhelming, but at the end of the day, the Filipino people are making ends meet while Marcos Jr. has more than P1 trillion under his control," Brosas said.
Panel chairperson, Ako Bicol Partylist Rep. Elizaldy Co, prior to the manifestation of the Makabayan bloc members, stressed the importance of the role of the OP, saying it "bears the immense duty of upholding the rule of law, ensuring justice, and preserving the unity and welfare of our nation."
"The presidency is not merely a symbolic figurehead or a ceremonial role; rather, it is the epicenter of governance, the fulcrum upon which the entire nation pivots. It is a position laden with responsibilities, obligations, and the immense weight of leadership," Co said.
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