MARIKINA Rep. (2nd District) and Senior Vice Chair of the House Committee on Appropriations Stella Quimbo is pushing for the creation of a special oversight committee in a bid to increase transparency in the use of confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs) by government agencies seeking these special allocations.
In her sponsorship speech on Monday endorsing the spending plan of the Commission on Audit (COA) for 2024, Quimbo called on her colleagues in the House of Representatives to rally behind the establishment of the special oversight committee that will ensure the proper use of people’s money under CIFs.
“[N]aniniwala ako na ang kaban ng bayan ay dapat ginagastos para sa kaunlaran ng bayan. This can only be achieved with a stronger push towards transparent governance,” Quimbo told the plenary.
“In this spirit . . . may I remind our colleagues that during the debate on the General Principles, I specifically mentioned the opportunity for Congress to increase transparency in the use of confidential and intelligence funds with a proposal to create a special oversight committee,” she said.
Under Quimbo’s proposal, she wants three House majority members and one minority member to join the Speaker in the special oversight committee, whose primary task is ensure that the CIFs are used properly and judiciously.
“To elaborate, the special committee shall have the privilege of complete access to the reports submitted to COA-DBM (Department of Budget and Management) joint circular 2015-01,” Quimbo explained.
The joint circular, issued by COA together with DBM, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Department of National Defense and the Governance Commission for Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations, outlines the government agencies and intelligence practitioners and experts that are authorized and eligible to receive CIFs.
