THE issue against Information and Communications Secretary Gregorio Honasan 2nd brings to the fore once again the universal misuse of intelligence funds in the government.

Honasan has been accused by a former subordinate of taking out P300 million in cash advances chargeable to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) intelligence and contingency fund.





Intelligence funds are spent at the discretion of its holder, i.e., heads of departments or units. It is not usually subject to audit or scrutiny by the Commission on Audit.

But in the case of Honasan, the Audit bureau has “cast doubts on the regularity, validity and propriety of the [P300-million] disbursement.”

His accuser, resigned DICT undersecretary Eliseo Rio Jr. said Honasan could not account where he spent the money.

Intelligence funds have been misused and abused by many officials, especially generals in the military and police, as well as high-ranking officials of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Bureau of Customs.

What is an intelligence fund? Basically, it is money set aside to pay informers who divulge the activities of enemies of the state such as criminals and Muslim or communist secessionists.

In the case of the Revenue and Customs bureaus, intelligence funds are spent on informers who tell on tax cheaters.

In most cases, intelligence funds are not used for the purpose for which they are intended, but go to the pockets of officials holding them.

Many military and police generals who hold positions requiring the use of intelligence funds get rich because they spend them for their personal benefit.

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The 2017 battles in Marawi, where Moro terrorists from Sulu were able to enter the city and lead the uprising against the government, were the result of failure of intelligence.

The generals holding the intelligence funds of the Armed Forces of the Philippines at the time should be made accountable for the failure of intelligence in Marawi City.

Why was there failure of intelligence?

Simple: the intelligence funds were not spent prudently.

Why do so many soldiers or policemen die in ambuscades conducted by communist and Moro rebels?

Answer: failure of intelligence because the intelligence funds are not being spent intelligently.

There is even a joke that the term “military intelligence” is an oxymoron.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines oxymoron as a combination of contradictory or incongruous words, such as cruel kindness.

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A source in a government agency that does counterintelligence surveillance has handed me a dossier on the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority Administrator Raul Lambino.

The information on Lambino, who holds a Cabinet rank, if true, is very disturbing.