MANILA, Philippines – Batangas is the only province in Calabarzon region that did not allocate any funds for confidential programs and activities in 2022 and 2023.
Financial statements submitted by the five provinces in Region 4A showed that Batangas’ neighbors Cavite, Laguna, Rizal and Quezon all recorded difficult-to-audit expenditures during the same period.
The breakdown in confidential expenditures is as follows:
- Cavite: P208.5 million in 2022, P183 million in 2023
- Rizal: P82 million in 2022, P83 million in 2023
- Quezon: P60 million in 2022, P60 million in 2023
- Laguna: P27 million in 2022, P27 million in 2023
A joint circular from 2015 governing confidential expenditures by local government units provides that such spending must be directly connected with the LGU’s peace and order program.
In fact, an LGU’s peace and order program determines the limits of a city, municipal, or provincial hall’s confidential fund allocation.
The same circular stipulates that only the following are eligible for confidential spending:
- crime prevention and law enforcement activities
- capability development for personnel of law enforcement agencies and volunteers
- programs related to illegal drugs, illegal gambling, counter insurgency, smuggling, human trafficking, and against illegal logging, mining, and fishing
While Batangas declared zero confidential spending, it had so-called extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses (EME) amounting to P7.37 million in 2022 and P7.33 million in 2023.
These expenses are unrelated to peace and order, and instead cover costs not included in the regular budget, such as expenses for meetings, conferences, official entertainment, public relations, civic contributions, and office equipment and supplies. – Rappler.com