MANILA, Philippines — Not a “single centavo” of intelligence funds was used by the Senate, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said Wednesday.
“I have asked my staff to get in touch with the secretary of the Senate and to inform you that — this is in response to the COA (Commission on Audit) report — the Senate did not spend a single centavo on intelligence funds,” Sotto said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum.
“Wala kaming ginamit na ganyan,” he added.
(We have not used such funds.)
Earlier, COA reported that Congress topped the list of government offices that used confidential and intelligence funds amounting to P3.980 billion.
Aside from Congress, the 2019 Annual Financial Report released by COA on Monday showed that the Department of National Defense and the Office of the President were among the top spenders of confidential and intelligence funds amounting to P3.087 billion and P2.410 billion, respectively.