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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider PCG gets P118 M in intel fund in past 17 years - official

PCG gets P118 M in intel fund in past 17 years - official

Published Sep 26, 2023 08:12 am
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Commodore Jay Tarriela (File photo)

For the past 17 years, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) only received a total of P118,725,000 for its intelligence fund, an official disclosed on Tuesday, Sept. 26, as lawmakers are pushing to increase the agency's budget to better secure the country's coastlines and the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for WPS, said that from 2013 to 2023, the agency had allocated P10 million each year for its intelligence fund.

Meanwhile, in 2012, the allocation was lower at P6.4 million; and from 2008 to 2011, the agency only had P400,000 each year for its intelligence fund.

In 2007, the allocation was even lower at P325,000; and in 2006, the PCG's budget for intelligence fund was P400,000.

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In this document released by PCG Commo. Jay Tarriela, it can be seen that the Philippine Coast Guard received a total of P118,725,000 in intelligence fund since 2006. (Photo courtesy of Tarriela)

"The total amount of the confidential and intelligence funds that the PCG received for the past 17 years is P118.7 million," Tarriela said.

"As a public official, I would like to be transparent and ensure that we do not understate our confidential and intelligence funds," he added.

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros have been pushing to increase the PCG's budget so the agency could allocate a bigger amount for its intelligence fund.

According to reports, the PCG has been asking for an intelligence fund amounting to P200 million to P600 million in the previous years, although the latest revelation by Tarriela proved the agency received a much lower budget.

Discussions on intelligence and confidential funds of government agencies are heating up after it was revealed recently that the Office of the Vice President (OVP) headed by VP Sara Duterte reportedly spent its P125-million confidential fund in 2022 in just 11 days.

Duterte has yet to issue a statement regarding the matter as of this writing.

Intelligence and confidential funds are two different things, according to Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) 2015-01 issued in 2015 by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Commission on Audit (COA), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of National Defense (DND), and Governance Commission for Government-Owned and/or Controlled Corporations.

The JMC described intelligence fund as a budget allocated for intelligence information gathering activities of uniformed and military personnel, and intelligence practitioners that have direct impact on national security.

Meanwhile, confidential fund refers to a "lump-sum amount provided as such in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for national government agencies, in appropriation ordinances for local government units, and in the corporate operating budgets or COBs for government owned and controlled corporations, for their confidential expenses."

Section 4 (General Guidelines) of JMC 2015- 01 states that all allocations of intelligence fund and confidential fund "are required to be supported with a Physical and Financial Plan, indicating the proposed amount allocated for each program, activity, and project, where disbursements pertaining to CE [confidential expenses] and IE [intelligence expenses] shall be based."

Related Tags

intelligence funds Confidential funds PCG Jay Tarriela
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