PRESS STATEMENT
Office of Rep. Edcel C. Lagman
(LP-Albay)
0916-6406737 / 0918-9120137
24 August 2016

The inordinate 400% increase in the President’s confidential and intelligence funds in the combined augmentation of P2.0 billion for 2017 from P500 million in 2016 is alarming in the face of extrajudicial and shortcut procedures employed by the present administration in pursuing its announced priorities.

The expenditure of confidential and intelligence funds traditionally defies or does not follow regular accounting procedures.

The fund utilization is subject to abuse which is difficult to validate due to the lack of paper trails and dearth of verifiable accounts.

Due to the suspect nature of confidential and intelligence funds, the Executive must be judicious or prudent in proposing huge appropriations for these expense items.

The Contingent Fund of the President, which is a lump sum appropriation, also escalated from P2.5 billion to P5.5 billion or an increase of P3.0 billion (120% augmentation) which appears to be the highest in history.

Since contingencies by their nature are not pre-determined, the Duterte administration may be expecting an avalanche of contingencies.

EDCEL C. LAGMAN