Leni Robredo did not have confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) during her term as Vice President from June 30, 2016 to June 30 2022, contrary to a claim by Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa on October 1.
Dela Rosa, claiming that the issue of CIF has been exploited by the political enemies of Vice President and concurrent Education Secretary Sara Duterte because of her possible presidential bid in 2028, said the issue did not surface during the time of Duterte’s predecessor, alluding to Robredo.
“Sigurado ‘yan, kapag ang kahoy ay maraming bunga, ito’y binabato. So that’s klarong pamumulitika ‘yan. Pamumulitika. ‘Di naman lumabas ‘yung issue na ‘yan noong panahon [na] ang Vice President [Robredo] ay miyembro ng opposition (That’s for sure, if a tree bears many fruits, people will throw stones at it. So that’s clearly politicking. Politicking. That issue didn’t surface during the time that the Vice President [Robredo] was a member of the opposition), dela Rosa said on Teleradyo Serbisyo’s “Anong Ganap” program.
Dela Rosa is a close ally of the Vice President and her father, immediate former President Rodrigo Duterte, under whose administration he served as director general of the Philippine National Police before becoming senator.
But the General Appropriations Acts from 2016 to 2022 show that the Office of the Vice President (OVP) did not have confidential and intelligence funds.
The OVP had a total budget of P500 million in 2016, Robredo’s first year in office. Her term began at noon of June 30 of that year.
In 2017, the OVP budget was reduced to P428.62 million.
In 2018, it went up to P543. 95 million, of which P482.83 million or 88.76 percent was allotted for Good Governance Engagements and Social Services Projects (GGESSP).
The OVP under Robredo received its biggest allocation in 2021, a total of P900 million, of which P826.16 million or 91.8 percent went to GGESSP.
In 2022, an election year, the OVP budget was slashed to P702.04 million, of which P621.61 million or 88.54 percent went to GGESSP.
Robredo ran as president in 2022 but lost to Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Meanwhile, the OVP under Duterte got P2,343,891,000 this year, an increase of 334 percent from last year’s budget. Of this amount, P500 million or 21 percent is classified as confidential expenses.
Duterte has been under intense criticisms from opposition lawmakers after reports came out that she spent P125 million confidential funds in just 11 days last year.
The Vice President maintained the amount, which her office received from the Office of the President late last year, was spent in 19 days.
As with all our other reports, MindaNews welcomes leads or suggestions from the public to potential fact-check stories.
MindaNews is a verified signatory to the Code of Principles of the International Fact-Checking Network. (H. Marcos C. Mordeno / MindaNews)
