When I first saw Rep. Raoul Danniel A. Manuel in the televised House Representatives hearing of Vice-President Sara Duterte’s request for P500 million in confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs), he was wearing a colorful shirt suggestive of tribal attire. As the subtitles of the TV screen identified him as the Kabataan Party-list representative, I was reminded of a previous “representative of the youth” who pitifully engaged the feisty Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon in a nasty exchange of disparaging remarks several years ago. Not worth listening to another cocky charlatan, I told myself.
I saw Rep. Manuel again in the telecast of the hearing on Sept. 27. He again, I said. This time he was wearing the traditional white barong. I wondered what he was saying to be speaking again during an important hearing graced by the presence of Vice-President Sara Duterte herself. I decided to listen.
VP Duterte had asked for P500 million in confidential funds. Confidential funds for the Office of the Vice President (OVP) under previous administrations were miniscule compared to what she is asking for in the 2023 budget. Her predecessor, VP Leni Robredo, did not ask for any.
Hours before the deliberations on the budget of the OVP, leaders of the House of Representatives committed to reallocate the OVP’s confidential and intelligence funds to the Philippine Coast Guard which has been fighting for fishermen’s rights in the West Philippine Sea. But Davao de Oro 1st District Representative Maria Carmen Zamora, speaking on behalf of the OVP as its budget sponsor, defended the OVP’s proposed 2024 budget during the plenary debate, on Sept. 27.
Rep. Manuel maintained that the OVP’s request for confidential funds was not in line with the House’s intent to give the funds to agencies with intelligence and surveillance capabilities. He then proceeded to interpellate Rep. Zamora like a skilled prosecutor cross-examining a defense witness in a trial court. Rep. Zamora was visibly unsettled, and VP Duterte evidently peeved by the line of grueling and incisive questioning.
The ensuing debate revealed that the Commission on Audit had questioned the expenditure and that the OVP had used its P125-million confidential fund in 2022 in just 11 days. That put an end to the debate, to the detriment of the OVP.
I was impressed by Rep. Manuel’s display of good communication skills, intimate knowledge of the appropriate laws and regulations, familiarity with parliamentary rules and protocols, extensive research of relevant data and information to support his arguments, ability to think critically and respond appropriately to counter arguments, and composure in the face of animated and edgy reaction to his interpellation. He outshone his seniors in the Makabayan bloc in the Lower House of Congress, the three-term Arlene Brosas and two-term France Castro. He must be a brilliant Law graduate from one of the top Law schools, I surmised.
He is indeed a brilliant person, but he is not a lawyer.
He studied at the University of the Philippines High School in Iloilo where he also graduated as valedictorian in 2011. He went on to the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV), where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in applied mathematics. graduating summa cum laude, the first in the university’s history. During his senior year at UPV, he served as chairperson of the College of Arts and Sciences Student Council.
Subsequently, he served as national chairperson of Katipunan ng mga Sangguniang Mag-aaral sa UP (KASAMA sa UP), the alliance of student councils in UP. While studying for his Master of Science degree in applied mathematics at UP Diliman, he served during the academic year 2016-17 as the 34th UP Student Regent, the sole representative of the UP system’s student body in the UP Board of Regents. He later served as national president of the National Union of Students of the Philippines.
Opposition lawmakers have raised concerns over the utilization of CIFs which have even likened to “pork barrel,” which has been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. CIFs are lump sum allocations set aside in the national budget for expenses that involve surveillance and intelligence information gathering activities. Intelligence funds are related to information gathering activities of uniformed personnel and intelligence practitioners that have a direct impact on national security.
Confidential funds can only be used for the following expenses:
• Purchase of information necessary for the formulation and implementation of program, activities, and projects relevant to national security and peace and order;
• Rental of transport vehicle related to confidential activities. Rentals and the incidental expenses related to the maintenance of safehouses;
• Purchase or rental of supplies, materials, and equipment for confidential operations that cannot be done through regular procedures without compromising the information gathering activity concerned;
• Payment of rewards to informers;
• Uncovering and preventing illegal activities that pose a clear and present danger to agency personnel or property, or other facilities and resources under the agency protection, done in coordination with appropriate law enforcement agencies.
Intelligence funds can only be used for the following expenses:
• Intelligence and counterintelligence activities that have direct impact on national security;
• Special projects and case operation plans involving covert or semi-covert psychological, internal security operation, and peace and order activities, as well as programs, projects, and campaigns against lawlessness and lawless elements involving intelligence activities.
Two days after the hearing, VP Duterte, while parrying off allegations of misuse of her office’s confidential funds in 2022. affirmed her obedience to the law after the House of Representatives decided to review and realign her CIFs to agencies tasked to protect the West Philippine Sea. She also defended her offices’ use of the funds, saying ensuring the country’s peace and order should not be constrained by time. “It matters not whether it takes one day or one year of spending; what truly matters is the safety and security of our people,” she said. “Whoever opposes confidential funds opposes peace. Whoever opposes peace is an enemy of the state,” she added.
I discern from her statement a hint of red-flagging as those opposed to her request for CIFs belong to the left-leaning Makabayan bloc. Representatives Manuel, Brosas, and Castro do not oppose confidential and intelligence funds. What they oppose is the allocation of P650 million in CIFs for the Office of the Vice-President and the Department of Education, as those offices are not mandated to ensure “the safety and security of the people.” And it does matter to them that P125 million was spent in only 11 days. In fact, they were shocked by it.
The Constitution does not specify what the function of the Vice-President is. Article VII, Section 8 merely says that “In case of death, permanent disability, removal from office or resignation of the President, the vice-president shall become the President to serve the unexpired term.” The Vice-President has no jurisdiction over matters of national security, So, VP Duterte does not need CIFs.
Neither does she need CIFs as Secretary of Education. As such she has the following functions: advises the President on matters related to education, formulates, implements, and coordinates policies, plans, programs, and projects in the areas of formal and non-formal basic education.
Oscar P. Lagman, Jr. is a retired corporate executive, business consultant, and management professor. He has been a keen observer of Philippine politics since the late 1950s.