COA: OP spent P4.5B in confidential, intelligence funds in 2022

The Office of the President (OP) spent P4.5 billion in confidential and intelligence (CIF) funds in 2022, nearly half of the national government's total CIF expenditures, according to the Commission on Audit (COA).

In its 2022 annual financial report, COA said the P4.5 billion CIF spent by the OP accounts for 48.17% of the total P9.34-billion CIF expenditures of the national government in 2022.

OP's 48.17% share is slightly lower than its P49.55% share in total CIF spending in 2021, the COA said.

Rodrigo Duterte was the president on the first half of 2022, with Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. replacing him in the second half following a landslide victory in the May elections.

Other agencies

The Department of Defense (DND), meanwhile, ranked second in 2022 CIF spending in 2022 with P1.77 billion, followed by the other Executive Offices, which include the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the National Security Council (NSC), to reach P1.31 billion.

The DND's P1.77-billion CIF spending, or 19% of the total CIF spent in 2022, is lower than the P1.86 billion in 2021.

The other Executive Offices’ 2022 CIF spending also went down to P1.31 billion from P1.39 billion in 2021.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) ranked fourth in CIF spending in 2022 with P1.18 billion, followed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) with P302 million and the Office of the Vice President with P125 million.

The DILG's P1.18-billion CIF spending in 2022 is higher than its 2021 spending, which was only at P908 million.

On the other hand, the DOJ's 2022 CIF spending at P302 million is also higher than its 2021 spending, which was P258 million.

The OVP's P125 million confidential fund, on the other hand, was not provided under the 2022 national budget law and was granted by the OP to the OVP in December 2022.

The other agencies that accounted for the remaining CIF spending in 2022 spent P60.5 million and below. —KBK, GMA Integrated News