OMBUDSMAN Samuel Martires has urged both houses of Congress to drastically reduce the allocation of confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) for his office, proposing a reduction from P51 million to a mere P1 million.
“Consistent with my earlier declaration before your Committee, I hereby submit an official request that the Office of the Ombudsman be allocated the sum of ONE MILLION PESOS (P1,000,000.00) for its Confidential and Intelligence Fund (CIF) in FYs 2024 and 2025, extending until the conclusion of my tenure as Ombudsman,” Martires said in a letter dated October 6, 2023.
The letter was addressed to the House Committee on Appropriations, chaired by Congressman Elizaldy Co, and Senate Finance Committee Chairperson Senator Sonny Angara.
Copies of this request were also delivered to the Offices of Speaker Martin Romualdez and Senate President Migz Zubiri.
Martires, a former Justice of the Supreme Court and Sandiganbayan, declared last month that his office could function effectively without confidential funds in its investigative and prosecutorial endeavors.
“I would like to be the first among investigating agencies to petition Congress that, if it threatens the integrity of this office, I would prefer to forego confidential funds during my term,” Martires stated during a Senate finance sub-committee hearing on the Ombudsman’s 2024 budget.
The Ombudsman, a constitutional commission, is responsible for investigating and prosecuting government officials implicated in crimes, particularly those involving graft and corruption.
“If these funds are only going to tarnish the Ombudsman’s reputation and that of the office, I am ready for them to be eliminated. I believe we can operate without confidential funds,” Martires stated in response to a query from Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel during a Senate budget hearing held on September 27, 2023.
Martires, who is set to conclude his seven-year tenure as the nation’s chief anti-graft investigator in August 2025, further added, “I want to be the first among investigating agencies to request Congress that we do not have confidential funds for the remainder of my term.”
This move by the Ombudsman, lauded in the Senate as a symbolically significant act that other agencies may follow, comes in the wake of the House of Representatives’ decision to reallocate P1.23 billion in confidential funds from the Office of the Vice President (OVP), Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Department of Agriculture (DA), and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in favor of agencies responsible for safeguarding national security, particularly in the West Philippine Sea.
When questioned by the Senate about the necessity of these funds for carrying out his investigative mandate, Martires firmly remarked, “If you rely solely on your confidential or intelligence funds to conduct investigations, you will not be able to function properly.”
He also quipped, “I can always share a smile with my friends and perhaps treat them to a cup of coffee as a token of appreciation for their assistance.”
