The Duterte dynasty may have misused confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) over the years as reward money in the extrajudicial killing of drug personalities as well as their critics, House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro suggested.
Citing retired PCol. Royina Garma’s revelations at the House of Representatives that confidential funds were used as reward money to police officers who have killed suspected drug personalities, Castro urged deeper investigations into the possibility of the practice extended to political assassinations.
In a statement Wednesday, Castro highlighted the irregular allocations of intelligence and confidential funds to Davao City during former president Rodrigo Duterte’s terms as mayor, which continued under now Vice President Sara Duterte and current city mayor Sebastian Duterte.
“Davao intelligence funds were P109.5 million in 2011, P113 million in 2012, P115 million in 2013, P120 million in 2014, and P144 million in 2015,” Castro revealed.
Several whistleblowers have revealed that the Duterte were behind the killing of hundreds in Davao since its patriarch Rodrigo became mayor in 1986.
It was also earlier revealed that the city revealed the highest CIF allocations in the entire country, beating cities with bigger populations such as Quezon and Makati.
“As early as 2016, Davao City’s confidential funds reached P144M that exponentially went up to P2.697 billion by 2022. The Office of the Vice President even asked for an illegal P125M CIF (in 2023),” Castro said.
The Dutertes have gotten more than P3 billion in confidential funds in Davao City alone but have not properly accounted for any of them, she added.
Rep. Castro emphasized that the P2.697 billion designated as confidential funds from 2016 to 2022 for Davao City with now Vice President Sara Duterte as mayor could have been better utilized to support the education sector, particularly benefiting teachers.
She highlighted that if allocated differently, these funds could have provided a P1,000 city allowance to approximately 17,000 Davao City teachers for more than 13 years.
“This funding could have greatly contributed to improving the quality of education by ensuring that teachers had access to essential teaching materials and resources, ultimately benefiting the learning experience of countless students, at least for Davao City,” Castro said.
Now Davao City mayor aspirant Rodrigo have gotten CIF worth billions as president, Castro said.
The Office of the President (OP) had gotten P.5 billion in 2016; P2.5 billion each year from 2017 to 2019; P4.5 billion each from 2020 to 2022 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Castro observed that during the first two years of the Duterte administration, the confidential and intelligence funds were around P2.5 billion, but when the administration intensified its attacks on critics, the funds jumped to P4.5 billion.
“It was during this time when thousands have been killed under the fake drug war and hundreds more were killed who were critics of the Duterte administration,” Castro noted.
She cited that offices of progressive organizations and homes of activists have been raided and many were killed for allegedly putting up a fight against the police just as the Dutertes were in control of CIF worth tens of billions .
Castro urged a thorough investigation into the use of the CIF and its abolition from the national budget. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
