Some agencies’ secret funds converted to MOOE items so it can be audited

Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo. Photo from House of Representatives Facebook page

MANILA, Philippines — The general rule that was followed by the House of Representatives in amending the proposed 2024 national budget was to either realign the confidential funds (CF) or convert it into items under maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE), Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo said.

In a briefing on Tuesday, Quimbo said they have converted several agencies’ CF to MOOE items so that these can be fully auditable by the Commission on Audit (COA).

Under current rules, COA cannot fully audit confidential expenditures because of its nature and possible relevance to national security.

“Well, generally, our thinking centered on, what is the mandate of this agency?  And from there, if we see that they do not need to do surveillance and if funds could be used as an MOOE — which means these expenses are auditable — then we prefer to place it as MOOE,” Quimbo said in Filipino.

“That’s why, if you can observe, we removed the CF from OVP, DepEd, DA, DICT, and DFA, so that’s the rationale as to why we converted their CF to MOOE,” she added.

READ: House gives zero confidential funds for OVP, DepEd, DICT, DFA, DA 

Quimbo was referring to the Office of the Vice President (OVP), Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Agriculture (DA) Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) — agencies whose requests for CFs were denied by the House small committee tasked to resolve amendments to the proposed budget.

In her opening statement, Quimbo enumerated the agencies whose CF requests were converted into MOOE line items:

• P30 million for the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)
• P25 million for DICT
• P30 million for DFA
• P50 million for the Office of the Ombudsman
• P150 million for DepEd’s Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE)

This meant that the DepEd’s request for a P150 million CF was placed to the GASTPE.

Quimbo also clarified that OVP’s CF, however, was not converted into an MOOE item.

“That’s our general principle, we converted the confidential (funds) as much as… it depends also, but that’s the general (rule).  If the funds can be auditable, then we convert them to auditable funds,” she said.

“Sa ngayon, wala (As of now, none),” she answered when asked if any part of the OVP’s request for a P500 million CF was reallocated into auditable items.

Managing limited resources

Both leaders of the majority and the minority bloc affirmed that the rationale behind the realignments was to prioritize agencies that needed funding the most, especially since resources are not unlimited.

According to Majority Leader and Zamboanga City 2nd District Rep. Manuel Jose Dalipe, they prefer that funding be placed on projects that would have a greater impact on people’s lives.

“Well, on the part of the majority, of course, we got hold of the proposed amendments but we have to discuss it as a small committee. We have to prioritize although the resources are not unlimited, resources are limited, so we have to prioritize projects which have an impact and would help the country,” he said.

“So based on the discussion, of course, we have to agree on something […] that the programs — let’s say for example programs for social aid, development of certain sectors, additional funds for sectors like agriculture, transportation and the other sectors, that’s what more or less we went with in the decision to give these items more emphasis,” he added.

Minority Leader and 4Ps Rep. Marcelino Libanan meanwhile assured the public that they were able to compile all significant amendments into the House version of the General Appropriations Bill, given that they have observed the interpellations at the committee and plenary levels.

Quimbo, Dalipe, Libanan, and Appropriations chairperson and Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy Co formed part of the small committee.

“We listened to the interpellators, we heard the problems of the country […] and all of these we summarized and we sought the inputs of the majority and the minority and this is the result,” he said.

“While funds are not abundant, at least we can address the needs of the country.  That’s why the minority agrees with the amendments to the budget,” he added.

Earlier, the small committee members held a briefing to announce what specific amendments were made to the proposed budget.

According to Quimbo, they have decided to give zero CFs to civilian agencies, allocating these instead to agencies at the forefront of protecting the West Philippine Sea and maintaining peace and order in the country.

JPV