FILE PHOTO: Senator Raffy Tulfo and Senator Cynthia Villar. INQUIRER FILES
The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Thursday became the latest agency to waive—after some prodding from senators —its proposed P50-million allotment of confidential funds, with lawmakers vowing to realign the funding in the 2024 National Expenditure Program (NEP) to agencies that needed them most.
At the Senate budget briefing of the DA, Sen. Cynthia Villar said the committee on agriculture would cancel the agency’s P50 million in confidential funds and transfer these to offices in charge of the government’s antismuggling campaign.
“The enforcement against smugglers and (agricultural) cartels and others would be coming from the law enforcement agency, not the DA; we will make the adjustment [or] realignment,” she said.
The move came to light as the DA defended its proposed 2024 funding of P167.5 billion, which is higher by more than P9 billion than its P157.8-billion budget this year.
Customs’ job
Under questioning by Sen. Raffy Tulfo, DA officials led by Senior Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian said the P50 million in confidential funds, supposedly for “enforcement and smuggling,” were “given” to the agency in the NEP.
“So why do you still need confidential funds if your main concern is smuggling when the (Bureau of) Customs has already been allocated confidential funds for the same purpose?” Tulfo asked DA officials.
“I don’t know; that was given to us, Mr. Senator,” Sebastian said in response.
Hearing such a reply, Tulfo urged the DA to waive the P50 million in favor of other agencies that needed more funding such as the Philippine Coast Guard, which is tasked mainly with safeguarding the country’s territorial waters amid the ongoing tension in the West Philippine Sea.
No option but to waive
“So if you’re telling [this committee] now that the P50 million was just given to you, that could only mean that you don’t need it, so you better give it back,” Tulfo suggested.
The senator urged the DA to “cancel” its confidential funds so as not to add to the growing number of civilian agencies already seeking such allotment.
“P50 million is P50 million; that’s a lot of money,” he added.
Assistant Secretary James Layug, DA undersecretary for inspectorate and enforcement, sought to salvage the funding by explaining that the P50 million was intended to be “dedicated for surveillance (activities) for anti-agricultural smuggling operations.”
But such activities were already being undertaken by the Philippine National Police and the BOC, Tulfo said in response.
“So you better return the confidential funds since you don’t need it,” Tulfo said.
Quarantine powers
“(That is) well noted,” Layug replied.
Layug would later explain that the DA intended to use the P50 million to investigate and execute its quarantine powers under the food safety law, the Price Act, and the Meat Inspection Code under the DA’s food safety regulation agencies.
Villar urged the DA to just abide by the wishes of the senators about how they would go about the P50 million in confidential funds.
“If Senator Tulfo will make a big issue out of it, I suggest you just follow him on what he wants you to do with the P50 million. I don’t want to be answering [him]—just be creative [by giving] him the benefit of having that P50 million realigned,” she added.