Dispatch from Crame No. 602:
Sen. Leila M. de Lima's statement on the Senate's "swift approval" of the President's proposed 2020 PhP4.5-billion Confidential, Intelligence and Extraordinary Funds (CIEF) funds

9/16/19

Approving with dispatch the proposed budget of any government office, including the Office of the President, is commendable. But doing so sans an iota of scrutiny is dereliction of duty on the part of our officials, and dangerous in more ways than one - especially under this administration that is notorious in inserting and tucking funds within the financial rigmarole.

I raise again this question: why does Mr. Duterte need a gigantic amount of Confidential, Intelligence and Extraordinary (CIE) funds and why the House at the Committee level several days ago, and now the Senate Sub-Committee, allowed the approval of this budget without a thorough vetting or due diligence? We are talking about 4.5 billion pesos of public funds that will be spent outside the microscope of audit.

Kahit pa mga santo ang naghain ng budget, kailangan naman suriin natin at busisiin, dahil higit sa usapin ng magandang intensyon, pagtupad ito sa tungkulin na maingat na gastusin ang pera ng bayan sa kapakinabangan ng mamamayan.

Even more so in the case of this President that we cannot credit with any saintly or selfless act for the Philippines.

Every promise of reform that Duterte wants to fulfil since day one in office, there is another fabric of society that he rips apart. This has been the formula of governance by this President.

Nasaan ang mga pangako niya sa publiko na kuno sasawatain niya ang iligal na droga, ang korapsyon, aayusin ang problema sa trapik sa EDSA at problema sa MRT, sosolusyunan ang Endo, magtatayo ng pabahay sa maralita? Hindi ba't imbes na maayos, lalo pang lumalala ang mga problemang ito?

The national budget must follow the law and common reason, and carry the agenda of the people, that is the first and the last, not the whims and agenda of a single man, even if he happens to be the President. ###

(Access the handwritten copy of Dispatch from Crame No. 602, here: https://issuu.com/senatorleilam.delima/docs/dispatch_from_crame_no._602)