The House of Representatives will be open to launching an investigation into the secret expenses of the Office of the President (OP) — the top spender of confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) in 2023 — in case a lawmaker will initiate for it, a minority lawmaker said Wednesday.

“If someone filed a privilege speech or a resolution if there were any regarding the [confidential funds of the] President, if ever it was found to be used in matters not related to their functions, then I think the [House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability] with also take that matter up,” 1-Rider party-list Rep. Ramon Gutierrez told reporters.

His pronouncement follows the report of the Commission on Audit (CoA), revealing that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s office spent a whopping P4.57 billion in CIF last year, making it the major spender among all government agencies, surpassing security and intel units such as the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (P127.41 million) and National Security Council (P90 million), among others.

Audit findings showed that Marcos’ office spent P2.2 billion on secret expenses, P2.3 billion on intelligence, and more than P10 million on extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses. The P4.57 billion CIF in 2023 was slightly higher than the P4.51 billion in 2022.

CIFs are earmarked for surveillance and intelligence activities. Agencies responsible for such receive their respective portions annually. However, through the years, CIFs became part of the tradition in the budget system, with civilian agencies that have nothing to do with surveillance jumping on the bandwagon.

But this was not the case for Marcos, according to panel chairperson Joel Chua.

“Well, the Office of the President is a different matter. Because our President has a job and an obligation as the commander in chief of the Armed Forces of our country and it concerns national security,” he said in the same briefing.

Gutierrez also highlighted Marcos’ office spending was far different from Duterte’s, which has been flagged by the CoA.

"There was no notice of disallowance in the OP and that's why no one has filed any privilege speech or resolution. In the OVP (Office of the Vice President) there was a notice of disallowance. So perhaps that's one difference,” he said.

Duterte has been at the center of intense scrutiny amid allegations that she misappropriated P612.5 million in confidential funds allocated to the OVP (P500 million) and the Department of Education (P112.5 million) in 2022 and 2023 during her stint as its secretary.

State auditors flagged a significant portion of the secret and disallowed P73.287 million of the P125 million that the OVP spent in merely 11 days during the last quarter of 2022, Duterte’s first year in office.

The House probe has unearthed severe implications of the confidential nature of the funds, such as the potential abuse and misappropriation due to the lack of the necessary oversight, prompting lawmakers to implement safeguards.

Stricter guidelines for CIF

Chua and Gutierrez, along with their peers, filed two remedial bills on Wednesday following eight intense hearings aimed at holding accountable officials exploiting the secrecy of the Confidential Intelligence Fund (CIF).

House Bills 11192 and 11193 introduce stricter guidelines for the use of these contentious funds, which have been prone to abuse due to the "loose requirements" of Joint Circular No. 2015-01.

Among the salient provisions of the measure is to limit to ten percent of the total annual budget of an agency the request for intelligence funds. Only agencies with mandates that are directly related to national security, peace and order, and intelligence gathering shall only be entitled to CIF allocation.

Meanwhile, HB 11193 seeks to impose a liability to the head of the agency and Special Disbursing Officers in the event that the CIF was found misspent.

Other provisions include stricter requirements for SDO, such as a permanent employee of an agency, who falls under Salary Grade 24 or above, has an educational background related to accounting, auditing, or finance, and an approved fidelity bond equivalent to his or her accountability, among others.

Chua pointed out that enforcing stricter qualifications will “prevent collusion between the SDO and the head of agency.”

Duterte’s SDO — Gina Acosta of OVP and Edward Fajarda of DepEd — earlier told lawmakers that they turned over to Colonels Raymund Dante Lachica and Dennis Nolasco the P125 million and P37.5 million in confidential funds, on 20 December and during the first quarter of 2023, respectively, pursuant to the VP’s marching orders.

Lawmakers warned they could be criminally liable for such an act, asserting that it was a clear violation of the JC No. 2015-01, mandating that the SDO shall be the sole responsible for overseeing the funds.