Budget and Management Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad has
welcomed the signing of the Joint Circular on Confidential and Intelligence
Funds (IF) by various government agencies, as the Aquino administration
continues to improve transparency and accountability in the use of funds while
ensuring just and lasting peace and the rule of law in the country.
With the circular, the Department of Budget and Management
(DBM), the Department of interior and Local Government (DILG), the Department
of National Defense (DND), the Governance Commission for GOCC (GCG), and the
Commission on Audit (COA) will have specific guidelines to follow on the
“entitlement, release, use, reporting, and audit” of Confidential Funds (CF)
and Intelligence Funds (IF).
"The very nature of the IF makes it vulnerable to
misuse. If properly spent, however, the funds can promote greater stability and
security in the country, both of which are necessary to inclusive development.”
As such, Abad said, the formulation and implementation of the
circular is timely: “This Joint Circular comes at a time when our people are
demanding greater accountability in public financial management. Citizens now
are more intolerant of fund abuse in the Philippine bureaucracy, and rightly
so.”
He added that the circular — which has clearer guidelines as
well as stronger internal controls and accountability on the management of the
IF — will enable the National Government to responsibly enact legitimate
intelligence gathering and response intervention activities against
increasingly complex security challenges with sufficient financial support.
Abad said, “Every time the government taps public funds like
the IF, we need to guarantee that the money is always used for the people's
benefit. By reforming the use of these funds, the Aquino administration can
ably meet its commitments to preserve national security, all while ensuring
better governance and responsible fund use.”
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=723998
