NI NOEL ABUEL
Umapela si Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III kay Pangulong Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. na ikonsidera na alisin ang hiling nitong P2.3M intelligence fund sa susunod na taon.
Sa marathon plenary session, inusisa ni Pimentel si Senador Sonny Angara, ang sponsor ng P10.6 bilyong pondo ng Office of the President (OP) para sa susunod na taon kung ano pa ang dahilan at kailangan ng P2.3M na intelligence fund ng OP.
Giit ni Pimentel, tulad ng maraming ahensya ng pamahalaan, ang OP ay hindi uniformed o military agency o isang intelligence practitioner at halos lahat naman ng mahahalagang impormasyon mula sa mga security agencies ay nakararating sa OP.
Tugon naman ni Angara, base sa naunang pahayag ni Exec. Sec. Lucas Bersamin, ang Pangulo ay user at generator ng confidential intelligence information at bilang Commander-in-Chief ng Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) na may mahalagang papel ng ginagawang mahalagang desisyon.
Sinabi pa ni Angara, na hindi na bago na mayroon CIF ang OP kung saan noong 2020 hanggang 2023 ay mayroon na itong intelligence fund.
Samantala, sa manifestation ni Senador Francis Tolentino, sinabi nito na dapat na magpasa ang Senado ng batas para maging malinaw at magtakda ng panuntunan at parameters hinggil sa CIF.
Aniya, dapat na amiyendahan ang Joint Circular 2015-01 na inilbas ng Commission on Audit (COA) at iba pang executives offices.
“Perhaps of the intention is really to question the content of this circular, a legislation should be made. We (Congress) should be the one doing the guidelines and parameters. Perhaps it is about time that we pursue legislation, giving flesh and muscles to the provision of Section 28, Article 2 of the 1987 Constitution, defining the reasonable condition, prescribed by law,” sabi nito.
“All the things that we are disgusting about confidential funds will be fixed of we enact the spirit of the constitutional provision I mentioned. Otherwise we will be continuously delegating our legislative function to an inter-agency committee which would, if time passes by, be considered as abdication of our legislative function,” giit pa nito.
Sa huli, ay walang nakapigil na matanggal sa CIF ng Office of the President at isinumite ito para sa pag-apruba ng plenaryo ng Senado.
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