On Wednesday, the House Blue Ribbon Committee backed the Office of the President’s (OP) high spending of its confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) in 2023, citing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s obligation as the country’s commander-in-chief.
According to the House Blue Ribbon Chairman and Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua, there is no reason to investigate the OP’s CIF spending in 2023. The data came from the Commission on Audit’s (COA) annual financial report, which stated that the OP spent a combined PHP4.6 billion last year, topping the list of government agencies’ expenditures.
Spending such an amount is prerogative to the President’s obligation to the country, especially the concerns on national security.
Chua emphasized that the Committee’s investigation of Vice President (VP) Sara Duterte’s alleged misuse in the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education’s (DepEd), CIF is a different conversation altogether. Their investigation began after lawmakers delivered their privilege speech, expressing concern about where the money was spent.
Based on the past eight hearings, Chua stated that they were able to conclude that there was indeed a misuse of both agencies’ CIF. This revelation followed the filing of two measures on CIF and Special Disbursing Officers (SDOs).
Meanwhile, VP Duterte maintained that there were no anomalies concerning both agencies’ CIF spending from 2022 to 2023. However, the former repeatedly refused to attend the Committee’s probe and did not provide any explanations as to where the money went.
