Half of the 16 cities in the National Capital Region stopped using confidential funds in 2024, leading to a 35% drop in total spending from P748.49 million in 2023 to P483.93 million. This shift reflects broader efforts for greater transparency in local budgets. For instance, Makati City reported no confidential expenses this year, reversing its P240 million from the previous year.
In 2024, eight cities in the NCR—including Makati, Malabon, Pasig, Las Piñas, Mandaluyong, Navotas, Taguig, and Valenzuela—decided to forgo confidential fund spending, contributing to a significant decline in regional expenditures. Makati, previously the top spender at P240 million in 2023, reported zero such expenses this year. Similarly, Malabon eliminated all cash advances for these funds, down from P13.7 million the year before.
Meanwhile, eight cities continued their use: Manila (P120 million in both years), Pasay (P80 million), Quezon City (from P100 million to P75 million), Caloocan (P60 million to P70.5 million), Parañaque (P49.5 million steady), Muntinlupa (from P44.29 million to P47.93 million), Marikina (P25 million), and San Juan (P16 million).
This change stems from intense scrutiny of confidential funds in 2023, particularly regarding Vice President Sara Duterte's expenditure of P125 million in just 11 days in December 2022, despite no allocation in the 2022 national budget. On December 12, 2023, civil society groups filed a plunder complaint against her for allegedly misusing P612.5 million as vice president and education secretary. In Davao City, which she once led as mayor, confidential spending surged from P144 million in 2016 to over P2.6 billion by the end of her term in 2022.
Duterte faced impeachment proceedings and refused to explain the funds' use before Congress. On August 8, 2024, the Commission on Audit issued a notice of disallowance for P73 million in Office of the Vice President confidential expenses from 2022 due to lack of proof. Under Joint Circular No. 2015-01, these funds are restricted to peace and order initiatives, such as crime prevention, law enforcement training, and programs against illegal drugs, gambling, insurgency, smuggling, human trafficking, illegal fishing, and unlicensed mining or logging.
