Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability chairperson Joel Chua (2nd from right) filed two measures that seek to address legislative gaps on CIFs and SDOs following the House probe on alleged misuse of confidential funds. (Photo courtesy of HOR)
By Dean Aubrey Caratiquet
On Wednesday, House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability chairperson Joel Chua formally filed bills to address the gaps found in the use of confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs) following the panel’s probe into the alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds received by the Office of Vice President Sara Duterte and by the Department of Education when she was education secretary.
House Bill (HB) No. 11192 provides that CIFs shall be allocated to agencies as indicated in the General Appropriations Act and to all other agencies, departments, units with mandates related to national security, peace and order, and intelligence gathering. Under this proposed legislation, allocation of CIFs is limited to not exceed 10% of the total annual budget of the agency unless otherwise explicitly authorized by law.
“It was evident that confidential funds allotted to civilian agencies were used to augment its operations and not for national security—contrary to the intent of granting it,” Chua emphasized.
“The spirit of granting confidential funds for confidential expenses was for peace and order programs and public safety. This was not how the confidential funds were used by the civilian agencies as seen in the inquiries of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability,” he added further.
The Manila lawmaker lamented the lax requirements of Joint Circular (JC) No. 2015-01, which governs the use of CIFs, for it enabled legitimacy of acknowledgement receipts bearing only signatures and illegible handwriting belonging to individuals with unverified identification to serve as proof of liquidation.
On the other hand, Chua also filed HB 11193, which discusses the scope of duties, functions, and accountabilities of special disbursing officers (SDOs).
Under the said bill, SDOs shall have an approved fidelity bond in an amount equivalent to their cash accountability. Their net worth should also be able to cover at least 50% to 100% of their cash accountability.
HB 11193 shall also prohibit designated SDOs from further delegating their disbursement functions, emphasizing that the SDO and the head of agency shall be jointly and severally liable in case of failure to render accounts, misappropriation, or misuse of the funds, whether through negligence or intentionally.
The penalty of perpetual disqualification from public office, including loss of benefits, shall be imposed on any offender, without prejudice to the filing of criminal, civil, and administrative cases.
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