Zubiri pushes creation of body to scrutinize intel funds of gov’t agencies

Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” F. Zubiri during the resumption of the plenary session in this file photo taken on November 7, 2022. Senate PRIB file photo / Joseph Vidal

MANILA, Philippines – Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri is seeking to form a Select Oversight Committee tasked to look into the utilization of the confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs) allocated across government agencies.

Zubiri filed on Wednesday Senate resolution 302, which aims to establish a panel tasked to investigate the proposed P9.2-billion worth of CIFs in the General Appropriations Bill.

“These funds are important in allowing our agencies to conduct necessary programs, operations, and activities for the safety and security of our people. But we need to be vigilant about how these funds are used, which will be the function of our Special Oversight Committee,” he said in a statement.

Zubiri’s resolution pointed out that this has long been a practice in the upper chamber since the 10th Congress.

The committee will be chaired by the Senate President, and it will be composed of three members representing the majority and one from the minority.

“It is our job, as an independent and democratic Senate, to keep watch over the use of the national budget. That is especially true for these sensitive funds, which are not subject to the usual auditing rules and procedures of the Commission on Audit,” Zubiri said.

With this in mind, Zubri noted that the committee is the Senate’s way of “subjecting these funds to checks and balances.”

The CIFs in the proposed 2023 national budget have been the subject of scrutiny over the past months as several members of Congress questioned the need for it, particularly in the Offices of the President and the Vice President, in view of a tight fiscal space.

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