Financial Risk:
Moderate
Score:
60/100
Asset Disposals
Q24
50/100
How effective are controls over the disposal of assets, and is information on these disposals, and the proceeds of their sale, transparent?
View Question
The disposal of assets of the Defence Department is provided for in the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Revised Armed Forces of the…
Explore
The Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) was created by the Philippine Congress and tasked to sell, lease and negotiate the development of military reservations…
Explore
The BCDA’s annual report features the financial results of disposals but in aggregated form, summarising the disposal activities conducted and the distribution of proceeds…
Explore
Q25
83/100
Is independent and transparent scrutiny of asset disposals conducted by defence establishments, and are the reports of such scrutiny publicly available?
View Question
The Commission on Audit (COA) is mandated to impose a pre-audit of all BCDA proposed substantial sales, transfers and alienations of property, then submit…
Explore
The BCDA is subject to the scrutiny and independent review of the Commission on Audit [1, 2]. There is no evidence that the executive…
Explore
Comprehensive audit reports are available to the public via the COA website within 12 months of the end of the financial year [1].
Explore
Secret Budgets
Q26
100/100
What percentage of defence and security expenditure in the budget year is dedicated to spending on secret items relating to national security and the intelligence services?
View Question
Under the GAA 2020, the budget item “intelligence expenses” accounts for less than 1% of total expenditure [1]. In the 2021 budget, the total…
Explore
Q27
25/100
Is the legislature (or the appropriate legislative committee or members of the legislature) given full information for the budget year on the spending of all secret items relating to national security and military intelligence?
View Question
While general information is provided on defence-related issues, information on secret items related to national security and military intelligence continue to be restricted due…
Explore
Q28
38/100
Are audit reports of the annual accounts of the security sector (the military and intelligence services) subject to parliamentary debate?
View Question
According to a 2015 COA circular, intelligence and confidential funds are not subject to normal auditing procedures with disbursements submitted in a sealed envelope…
Explore
The 18th Congress has created a Select Oversight Committee on Intelligence and Confidence Funds, Programmes and Activities to look into the disbursement and use…
Explore
Q29
67/100
In law, are off-budget military expenditures permitted, and if so, are they exceptional occurrences that are well-controlled? In practice, are there any off-budget military expenditures? If so, does evidence suggest this involves illicit economic activity?
View Question
The DBM has defined off-budgetary funds as receipts which are authorised to be deposited for expenditure items that are not part of the general…
Explore
The off-budget accounts described in 29A are publicly available via the DBM website and are recorded in disaggregated form according to agency or service,…
Explore
There are substantial off-budget military expenditures but this involves legitimate economic activity. The off-budget accounts described in 29A are publicly available via the DBM…
Explore
Q30
38/100
Are mechanisms for accessing information from the defence sector effective?
View Question
The proposed Freedom of Information (FOI) Act aims to mandate the disclosure of public documents. The bill outlines the exceptions for public disclosure and…
Explore
This indicator is not scored in the GDI. Through the Inventory of Exceptions to Executive Order No. 2, 2016, the government operates a system…
Explore
Some information on defence such as summaries of financials can be accessed online but key details are missing. These can be requested through the…
Explore
Q31
100/100
Do national defence and security institutions have beneficial ownership of commercial businesses? If so, how transparent are details of the operations and finances of such businesses?
View Question
The defence and security institutions do not own commercial businesses of any significant scale and the revenue they receive from transient facilities run by…
Explore
This indicator is marked ‘Not Applicable’ as the defence and security institutions do not own commercial businesses of a significant scale [1, 2].
Explore
Military-owned Businesses
Q32
75/100
Are military-owned businesses subject to transparent independent scrutiny at a recognised international standard?
View QuestionIllegal Private Enterprise
Q33
50/100
Is there evidence of unauthorised private enterprise by military or other defence ministry employees? If so, what is the government’s reaction to such enterprise?
View Question
There is no outright prohibition on Philippine military or defence employees becoming involved in private enterprise, although the COA has called out the navy…
Explore
As noted in 33A, some members of the army and the police were allegedly being used as bodyguards by retired military and police generals,…
Explore
Actual Military Spending
Q77
38/100
Is comprehensive data on actual spending on defence published during the budget year?
View Question
Details of defence expenditure are proactively published via the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) website in disaggregated form with some explantion provided, although…
Explore
With the exception of intelligence spending, a big portion of defence expenditure is fully disclosed and publicly available [1]. According to an interviewed legislator,…
Explore
Details of actual spending are published within 12 months of the end of the financial year [1].
Explore
Variances between the published budget and actual spend are not explained at all [1].
Explore