Intelligence & Confidential Fund Audit Unit ‘severely undermanned’

Amid the growing number of agencies that have been granted confidential and intelligence funds, on the other side of this is a lack of auditors who will ensure that these funds are properly utilized.

Under the 2024 budget, numerous government agencies have requested CIF, including the Office of the President and the Office of the Vice President.

The P1.7 billion of the totality of such funds will go to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s office, while P500 million and P150 million, or a total of P650 million will go to the OVP and the Department of Education, which Vice President Sara Duterte heads.

Markina Rep. Stella Quimbo told lawmakers during the sponsorship debate of the Commission on Audit's P13.36 billion budget for 2024 that CoA's Intelligence and Confidential Fund Audit Unit or ICFAU is "severely undermanned."

ICFAU is a unit created under the office of the chairperson CoA. It is in charge of the audit of CF or IF in accordance with COA-DBM (Department of Budget and Management) Joint Circular 2015-01.

Quimbo, the budget sponsor of CoA, raised the concern following a query by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman if the agency, whose mandate is to uphold accountability and transparency within the national government, audits and monitors compliance with the utilization and reportorial requirements of CIF that were granted to various agencies.

While the CoA is able to monitor the utilization of all agencies with CIF based on their liquidation reports, according to Quimbo, "there is an office called the ICFAU which is under the office of the chairman. At the moment, this office is actually severely undermanned… Because many of them are pirated."

Staffing for this office, according to Quimbo, must consist of 27 people, but at the moment, there are only nine.

Lagman hit back and claimed that it was only "a reason to reduce the amount for confidential and intelligence funds so that we can utilize these funds in order to fully arm this unit of COA."

This move, he said, would help monitor the utilization and reportorial compliance of agencies "enjoying confidential and intelligence funds."

"Madam Speaker, CoA submits to the wisdom of Congress. If Congress decides indeed reduce the total amount of confidential and intelligence funds in the 2024 GAA (General Appropriations Act) we will, of course, respect that and therefore, there's no need to augment staffing for the ICFAU," Quimbo responded.

However, she underscored that should Congress decide to more or less retain the same amount of total CI funds, "they are crying for help, Madam Speaker."

Meanwhile, she pushed that the government establish a special oversight committee to increase transparency in the use of CIF by government agencies seeking these special allocations.

It will be shepherded by three members from the majority and one from the minority bloc who will join the Speaker in the special oversight to ensure that the CIFs are used properly and judiciously.

Under the proposal, the special committee will have the privilege of complete access to the reports submitted to COA-DBM Joint Circular 2015-01.

"[I] believe that the public treasury should be spent for the development of the people. This can only be achieved with a stronger push towards transparent governance," Quimbo told her peers.

Under the joint circular, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Department of National Defense and the Governance Commission for Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations outline the government agencies and intelligence practitioners and experts that are authorized and eligible to receive CIFs.