COA: Duterte spent P4.5 billion confidential funds in 2021

MANILA, Philippines — Former president Rodrigo Duterte spent a total of P4.5 billion in confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) in 2021, his last full year in office, the latest report from the Commission on Audit (COA) showed.

Based on the COA’s “2021 Annual Financial Report for the National Government” uploaded on its website last Oct. 7, the Office of the President (OP) accounted for 49.55 percent of the P9.082 billion in total CIF spending last year.

The OP’s CIF spending included P2.5 billion in confidential expenses and another P2.5 billion in intelligence expenses.

The OP’s total CIF spending in 2021 was slightly lower than the P4.636 billion it spent in 2020.

The report showed that the Department of National Defense (DND), which includes the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Presidential Security Group and the Office of Civil Defense as its attached agencies, spent a total of P1.86 billion in CIF in 2021, of which P1.84 billion was spent for intelligence information gathering and P22.25 million for confidential work.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), whose attached agencies includes the Philippine National Police, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology and Bureau of Fire Protection, spent a total of P908.45 million in CIF, of which P848.448 million was used for intelligence information gathering and P60 million confidential work.

Overall, the national government’s CIF spending decreased by P361.3 million or to P9.082 billion in 2021 from P9.443 billion in 2020.

A total of P3.99 billion went to confidential expenses, higher by P127 million than the P3.863 billion in confidential expenses in 2020.

On the other hand, expenses for intelligence gathering decreased by P493.19 million or to P5.087 billion in 2021 from P5.58 billion in 2020.

Aside from the OP, DILG and the DND, the COA report showed that “other executive offices” posted P1.537.2 billion in CIF expenses (P1.397 billion confidential and P140.2 million intelligence).

Also included in the COA’s list of agencies which incurred CIF expenses in 2021 were the Department of Justice with P258.21 million; Department of Finance, P60.625 million; Department of Foreign Affairs, P31.74 million; Department of Social Welfare and Development, P20.038 million; Department of Transportation, P16.849 million; Department of Environment and Natural Resources, P15 million; COA, P10 million; Office of the Ombudsman, P3.02 million; Commission on Human Rights, P635,600 and Department of Information and Communications Technology with P50,000.