‘Publicity stunt’: Salo blasts Roque’s remark on House’s secret funds
Kabayan Rep. Ron Salo | PHOTO: Official facebook page of Ron. Salo
MANILA, Philippines — Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque’s claims that the House of Representatives has confidential funds (CF) are baseless and merely a publicity stunt, Kabayan Rep. Ron Salo said.
Salo, in a statement late Monday night, questioned Roque’s intentions, saying that the former spokesman might be just missing the old days when he was the “center of media attention.”
“Roque’s inflammatory statements appear to be more of a publicity stunt. Perhaps he wants to relish his days when he was still the presidential spokesperson and the center of media attention,” Salo claimed.
“(I encourage the public to) focus on government transparency and accountability, rather than being swayed by baseless allegations,” he added.
However, in a message to INQUIRER.net, Roque clarified that what he brought up is a public interest issue, claiming that based on his time in Congress, lawmakers were not required to liquidate all their budgetary requirements, supposedly making this worse than the confidential expenditures.
“What I said was when I was a member of the 17th Congress, all Congressmen were not required to liquidate all their budgetary requirements. All that was required was to sign a certification. This is worse than confidential funds since there is no liquidation required,” Roque explained.
“Moreover, all budgetary allotments of the House were by plenary vote in the 16th Congress. Voted yun by the house as to be treated as confidential. This is a public interest issue and not a publicity stunt,” he added.
Salo’s statements against Roque came after the latter streamed a video on his YouTube page last October 12, where the former presidential spokesperson stated that it appears the House — which removed the CF request of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) under the proposed 2024 national budget — has its secret fund allocations.
Roque was referring to the P1.6 billion line item under confidential, intelligence, and extraordinary expenses.
“Akala ko ba ang confidential funds ay tatanggalin? Pero ang katotohanan aba’y tinanggalan lamang ng confidential funds ng Kamara de Representantes si VP at Education Secretary Sara Duterte. Ano po ang pruweba na marami pa pala ang tanggapan ng gobyerno ang may confidential fund at hindi tinanggalan?” he asked.
(I thought they would remove the confidential funds. But the truth is that the House only removed the confidential funds of Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte. What is the proof that there are many agencies still with confidential funds?)
“Nangunguna sa listahan natin, ang Kamara de Representante: confidential, intelligence and extraordinary […] and miscellaneous expenses, under one line po ‘yan. P1.6 billion, oh ‘di ba, ang mga tiga Kamara, wow ang gagaling nila, nilipat daw nila ang confidential fund ni VP Sara sa mga ahensya na nakikipag-laban sa West Philippine Sea, eh ang tanong pa’no po ‘yong P1.6 billion ng Kamara de Representante?” he asked.
(First on our list is the House. There is a confidential, intelligence, extraordinary […] and miscellaneous expenses under one line. That’s P1.6 billion. Wow! The House members are so good because they realigned the CF of VP Sara to agencies fighting for the West Philippine Sea! But the question is, how about the House’s P1.6 billion?)
But such claims have already been debunked by both Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co and Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo — chairperson and senior vice chairperson of the House committee on appropriations, respectively — that the P1.6 billion is not CF, but was intended for extraordinary expenses.
Quimbo also noted that such expenses are fully auditable, unlike in the case of CF.
READ: Secret funds within Congress? Co says that’s fake news
Roque’s statements came after the House removed the P500 million and P150 million CF requested by the OVP and DepEd, respectively, for 2024. Instead, these CFs, including those of other civilian offices, were allocated to agencies defending the West Philippine Sea.
Salo also accused Roque of being hypocritical, as he was once a member of Congress — which the Constitution mandates to craft the budget and realign items into whichever project they would like to prioritize.
Roque used to represent the Kabayan party-list in the 17th Congress; however, Salo claims that Roque was expelled from the party due to his conduct during a congressional probe into the drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison in 2017.
“Harry Roque’s allegations of politicization within the House of Representatives are not only unfounded but profoundly hypocritical, especially in light of his past membership in the very institution he now criticizes,” Salo said.
RELATED STORIES
House gives zero confidential funds to OVP, DepEd, DICT, DFA, DA
How House removed, reduced the confidential funds of gov’t agencies
