“But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.
(1 Timothy 6:9-11, NASB)
The National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) expresses its dismay and opposition to the controversial and deceitful confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) of the Office of the President (OP) and the Office of the Vice President (OVP). The confidential funds of OP and OVP are lump-sum (mis)appropriations without public transparency of their use and purpose.
The said funds are used for “intelligence information gathering activities of uniformed and military personnel, and intelligence practitioners that have direct impact [on] national security,” according to the General Provisions of the 2023 budget. Confidential and intelligence funds are merely “pork barrel” in nature. What is more alarming is that, besides being another huge source of corruption, it gives more power and resources for state surveillance, persecution, and violation of human rights in the country.
Now, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. seeks a P120 million increase from this year’s P10.02 billion allocation in confidential and intelligence funds for 2024. Meanwhile, Vice President Sara Duterte asks for an additional P500 million in confidential funds on top of the P150 million of the Department of Education (DepEd).
According to DepEd Assistant Secretary and Deputy Spokesperson Francis Cesar Bringas, there is still a shortage of teachers in the country and an accumulated backlog of 159,000 classrooms and 1.3 million armchairs in public schools. Therefore, the department should focus on resolving learning gaps that were aggravated during the pandemic instead of pushing for intelligence funds and the implementation of the Mandatory Reserved Officers Training Corps (ROTC). It should also refrain from making baseless claims that 16 public high schools in the National Capital Region (NCR) are engaging in New People’s Army’s (NPA) recruitment. The young people do not need a department using its funds to pose threats to their schools which should be zones of peace.
Instead of giving the OP the excessive power ruling over the bulk of confidential and intelligence funds, the government should push for its reallocation to the health sector and other basic social services. Increasing funds for “ayuda” in order for the poor to cope with inflation and expanding its distribution should also be prioritized. NCCP also affirms the call of human rights groups to re-channel funds to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to investigate human rights violations.
Reflecting from years back, the Filipino people had already spoken “no pork barrel”. Thousands joined the “Million People March” protest that eventually pushed the Supreme Court to declare the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) unconstitutional. This is one of the nation’s most significant lessons drawn from the past.
With this, the NCCP urges the government to seriously uphold transparency and proper oversight in budget deliberations. The people should also be given the right to participate in the process through their elected Representatives in the House.
Furthermore, the National Budget should effectively respond to the needs of the people, most especially those of the impoverished and most vulnerable sectors. We also call on our member churches and the people to be vigilant against the misappropriation of government funds and to pray and work for good governance.
Signed:
12 September 2023
REV. FELIPE B. EHICAN, JR.
Chairperson
THE MOST REV. JOEL O. PORLARES
Vice Chairperson
DCN. DR. GAY B. MANODON
Vice Chairperson
MA. KAY CATHRINE F. ALMARIO
Vice Chairperson
MS. MINNIE ANNE M. CALUB
Acting General Secretary
