Confidential

Since the word “confidential” has been in the news lately in relation to increased budgets of certain government offices, we tried to consult an authority on the subject, namely Peter Mark Roget, a physician who in 1852 devised a “Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases.”

According to this reference work often consulted by writers, confidential can also mean: concealed, mysterious, off the record, secret, covert, stealthy, clandestine, cloak-and-dagger, behind the scenes, surreptitious, furtive.

But then, Mr. Roget also includes the word “dishonest” as synonym.

Our interest in what the word “confidential” really means had been piqued by what seemed to be moves by various government agencies to include confidential and intelligence funds in their budget proposals to Congress.

Quizzical eyebrows have been raised, for instance, why the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd), headed by the same official, would ask for confidential and intelligence funds for each agency.

The proposed budget for 2024 of the OVP headed by Sara Duterte is P2.374 billion. This is 1 percent lower than its budget for this year.

But tucked into the OVP budget is P500 million in confidential funds, or 21 percent of its total budget for 2024.

The agency has said the money would go to satellite offices throughout the country, ostensibly to deliver vital social services to the grassroots. But isn’t that the work of the DSWD and LGUs?

DepEd’s budget totals P712.44 billion, the second-biggest proposed allocation behind the P822.2 billion for the Department of Public Works and Highways.

Vice President Sara Duterte is also DepEd Secretary. The agency is asking for P150 million confidential fund for 2024, the same amount this year.

Confidential funds are those associated with surveillance aimed at supporting an agency’s operations. Confidential funds do not require disclosure of where the money goes, unlike other regular spending.

Intelligence funds, on the other hand, are usually spent by the military, police, and other uniformed personnel, as well as intelligence agencies, for information-gathering activities that have a direct impact on national security.

The use of such funds is “generally confidential and classified” but requires “strong internal controls” and “strict accounting and auditing rules to prevent mishandling or improper application of the funds.”

These are the requirements set by a joint circular of the departments of budget, interior and local government, national defense, Commission on Audit, and the Governance Commission for Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations.

Last year, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman called for a “purge” of “unnecessary and excessive” confidential and intelligence funds in the P5.268-trillion budget for 2023.

He singled out the OVP’s P500 million and DepEd’s P150-million confidential funds.

The lawmaker pointed out that “no stretch of the imagination or flexibility of logic” could justify the inclusion of these funds in two government agencies that are not concerned with surveillance and national security.

Recently, Lagman said he would pursue his advocacy against “profligate allocations for confidential and intelligence funds” in the President’s P5.768-billion National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2024.

He claimed these were “excess fat” which must be “excised and reallocated” to socioeconomic services, particularly education and health.

Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III has also questioned the propriety of the administration’s move to allocate billions of pesos for intelligence and confidential funds, particularly following the destruction caused by recent storms.

He said this raised “serious questions about the government’s understanding of the real needs and challenges faced by our country.”

“It shows the lack of empathy and understanding of the real needs of ordinary Filipinos” as the hardships experienced by storm-devastated areas in the country “require a robust response from the government.”

DepEd has defended the proposed P150-million budget for its confidential expenses in 2024.

DepEd Undersecretary and spokesperson Michael Poa said the P150 million will be used to collect information on illegal recruitment activities, apparently by anti-government groups, in schools and put a stop to such activities.

The information, he explained, will be used to formulate and implement targeted programs and projects aimed at countering such recruitment activities that pose a risk to learners and teachers.

“Basically, we will use these funds really for the welfare of our learners and teachers when it comes to their security, and peace and order in our schools,” Poa said.

The confidential funds in the DepEd budget, he emphasized, are intended “to protect our learners.”

Our question is: Are our schools going to be used for imparting knowledge and skills to students or will our schools be turned into spy networks where the administration, teachers and students are paid to gather information on anti-government views and/or activities within the campus?

Or will the intelligence and confidential funds be used instead for partisan politics in the years ahead, particularly in 2028?

(Email: ernhil@yahoo.com)

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