‘Biggest illegal pasaload’: Bayan hits Marcos Jr for funding Sara Duterte’s confidential and intelligence allocation in 2022
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s transfer of funds into the Office of Vice President Sara Duterte in 2022 is highly suspicious and should be immediately probed. Meanwhile, Duterte needs to adequately explain the anomalous spending of P125 million of her office in just 19 days.
Confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) are now embedded in the budget outlay of supposedly civilian agencies. The glaring example of misuse and abuse of CIF is the brazen transfer of funds from Marcos to Duterte in 2022. It could be the biggest illegal ‘pasaload’ because the OVP has no CIF in the approved budget law for 2022.
There’s no sufficient scrutiny as to how CIF is used. It conveniently allows officials to spend money with little or no auditing and accounting under the guise of promoting national security. It is a perfect tool enabling political patronage and corruption. It reflects the arrogance of those in power who consider their mandate as a license to systematically steal from the public treasury with impunity.
Hence, we call for the abolition of all confidential funds. At a time of surging prices and economic uncertainty, CIF should be rechanneled to social services, agricultural subsidies, and development projects. Public funds should help build the nation, feed the hungry, and revive the economy; taxpayers’ money should not be used to finance the hubris and extend the notorious legacy of shameless political dynasties.
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