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Confidential Funds Controversy Erupts In Philippines – Analysis

By Geopolitical Monitor

By Ashlee Manalang

The controversy surrounding Vice President Sara Duterte’s use of confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs) in the Philippines has flagged serious questions about transparency, legality, and accountability within the government. The allocation and expenditure of these confidential funds have become a subject of public concern, and rightfully so.

In 2022, opposition lawmakers rightfully questioned the manner in which Vice President Duterte accessed these funds. Some of these funds were allocated without the necessary congressional authorization by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. They pointed out the absence of these funds in the 2021 budget and their allocation in the 2024 budget discussions.

Distinctly alarming is that these confidential funds are typically associated with security forces and intelligence operations. Their allocation and utilization must be carefully monitored to ensure that they are used for their intended purposes and that they do not fall into the wrong hands.

Records showed Duterte accessed these funds in December 2022 through a transfer initiated by Marcos’ office. Two opposition senators exposed this irregular use and raised concerns about the 2024 CIF request. Such concerns accentuate the need for greater scrutiny and oversight in the allocation of these funds, which should ideally be devoid of political influence.

The spokesperson for former Vice President Leni Robredo, Atty. Barry Gutierrez confirmed that their office hadn’t requested CIF in 2021, suggesting a legal violation. Former Senate President Drilon noted possible budget rule violations, pinpointing that these funds should not be used to augment non-existent budget items.

“There was no item. Since there was no item then, you could not augment. The key is augmentation. If there is zero budget, what can you augment? There is no deficiency in the item that needs augmentation,” Drilon  stated .

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin confirmed that the Office of the President (OP) released a total of P221.4 million to President Duterte’s office in 2022, which included P125 million designated as confidential funds. This action was in line with Special Provision No. 1 within the 2022 Contingent Fund. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. approved this transfer of P221 million, categorized under Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE). Among this amount, P96.424 million was allocated for financial assistance or subsidies, and P125 million was designated for the confidential funds of newly established satellite offices, all of which were charged against the fiscal year 2022 contingent fund.

A day after admitting they couldn’t prove Vice President Sara Duterte’s misuse of P125 million in confidential funds, Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas insisted that the burden of proof now falls on Duterte. Brosas emphasized that the use of the P125-million confidential fund in 2022 lacked authorization, as it wasn’t in the 2022 General Appropriations Act. She asked Vice President Duterte to provide clear answers about how the fund was spent, addressing the concerns of the Filipino people.

“As to how the P125 million confidential fund was actually spent, the burden of proof squarely falls on Vice President Sara Duterte and not on Makabayan bloc. Unfortunately, VP Duterte still has not provided a straight answer which will address the concerns of the Filipino people,” she  said .

This allegation elicited major uncertainties about the legality and transparency of such expenditures. The burden of proof now rests on Vice President Duterte to provide clarity and address the concerns of the Filipino public. The coming months will be telling, as the OVP’s allocation of confidential funds in 2024 will be closely monitored and scrutinized. Accountability and adherence to budgetary rules in the highest echelons of government need to be even more effectively applied.

Vice President Duterte, in her  recent speech , justified that confidential funds are integral in ensuring Filipino citizens “can go about their daily lives without fear, and our children can receive an education in a safe environment, and our businesses can thrive without the shadow of insecurities.” She also stated that these funds serve as resources for the government to respond swiftly and effectively to unforeseen challenges, be it counterterrorism efforts or safeguarding the nation’s integrity.

The Vice President further warned that those who undermine the country’s security and progress also pose a threat to the very fabric of Philippine society. She encouraged the people of the Caraga Region to remain vigilant and resolute in safeguarding their fellow citizens and the nation as a whole.

The Office of the Vice President (OVP) is seeking PHP 500 million in confidential funds, while the Department of Education (DepEd) is seeking PHP150 million for expenditures in 2024. However, these budgetary demands have sparked dissent among opposition members in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, who find them superfluous and, in some cases, wasteful.

Confidential funds are often at the center of political debates, and this situation is no different. Advocates of these funds argue that they are “imperative” in national security maintenance and agile crisis resolution. The call for such a substantial allocation by the OVP indicates the perceived importance of these funds in their operations.

However, the opposition’s skepticism is not unwarranted. It is their duty, as representatives of the people, to scrutinize and question the allocation of public funds. They contend that in an age of transparency and accountability, the need for such extensive confidential funds should be thoroughly examined. The PHP500 million requested by the OVP, along with PHP150 million by DepEd, is a significant portion of public funds. Opposition members rightly raise questions about whether these sums are truly necessary or whether they could be better allocated elsewhere.

In a democracy, the tension between government bodies and the opposition is a root element of checks and balances. It ensures that taxpayer money is spent wisely and in the best interests of the Filipino people. Still, this debate shouldn’t get lost in political rhetoric and posturing. Both sides must engage in a constructive dialogue to conclude that benefits the nation as a whole.

In the end, the PHP500 million requested by the OVP and PHP150 million requested by DepEd are taxpayer dollars. The Filipino citizens deserve clarity and accountability in this matter. Only with openness and a commitment to adhering to legal procedures can this controversy be put to rest, and the Filipino people’s concerns be addressed.

The views expressed in this article belong to the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect those of Geopoliticalmonitor.com.

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OVP: ‘Good governance,’ confidential funds will be used for social services, nat’l security

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Vice President (OVP) on Thursday defended its “good governance” and confidential funds under its proposed P2.922 billion budget for 2023, saying the money would be used specifically for social services, as well as peace and order and national security programs.

According to OVP spokesperson Reynold Munsayac, the requested P2.2 billion fund for the “good governance” program will be utilized primarily for the OVP’s public assistance plans.

“‘Yung bulto ng OVP budget papasok sa basic social services na pino-provide natin ngayon, andiyan ‘yung financial subsidy, medical assistance, burial assistance, at ‘yung libreng sakay, pati ‘yung livelihood programs,” Munsayac explained in a press conference.

(The bulk of the OVP budget will go into the essential social services that we provide, such as the financial subsidy, medical assistance, burial assistance, free ride, and livelihood programs.)

He said these aids will be directly given to the public as the OVP now has seven satellite offices nationwide.

“So ang intention talaga ng OVP ay maging available itong mga services at assistance na ito sa karamihan ng mga kababayan lalo na sa malalayong lugar,” Munsayac noted.

(So, OVP intends to make these services and assistance available to most people, especially those in remote areas.)

FILE PHOTO: OVP spokesperson Atty. Reynold Munsayac

The OVP official further explained that the P500 million fund for the OVP’s “confidential expenses” will be used based on the parameters set by the Department of Budget and Management and the Commission on Audit through Joint Circular No. 2015-01, or the guidelines on the utilization of confidential funds.

Munsayac insisted: “The position and mandate of the Vice President allow her to utilize those kinds of funds regarding peace and order and national security,” noting that the OVP’s livelihood projects will be implemented in conflict areas.

“So sisiguraduhin po namin na ito pong pondo na ito ay gagamtin ng tama at para suportahan lang ang programa ng OVP,” he said.

(So we will make sure that this fund will be used correctly and only to support the OVP’s programs.)

When asked why the proposed 2023 budget of the current OVP is way bigger than the yearlong budget of the previous OVP, Munsayac said that it might be because of the difference in prioritized projects.

“Siguro noong nakaraang administrasyon meron silang certain projects at ‘yung budget nila ay sufficient na para doon,” he said.

(Maybe during the previous administration, they had certain projects and their budget was sufficient.)

He then assured the public that there would be transparency in utilizing the good governance and confidential funds by the current OVP.

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Corruption, lack of Transparency and the Misuse of Public Funds in Times of Crisis: An introduction

• Published: 17 August 2022
• Volume 22 , pages 497–503, ( 2022 )

Cite this article

• Ali Farazmand 1 ,
• Elina De Simone 2 ,
• Giuseppe Lucio Gaeta 3 &
• Salvatore Capasso 4  

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Introduction

The spread of Covid-19 disease has imposed enormous socio-economic losses (Lenzen et al., 2020 ) over a million human lives and serious distributional conflicts with tremendous inequitable hardships—both mental and financial—on people worldwide (Esseau-Thomas et al., 2022 ; Furceri et al., 2020 ). While the rich and well-to-do may have experienced some inconveniences but will continue their lifestyles, life will never be the same for billions of the poor and middle-class people throughout the world. The top responsibilities of all governments are saving and protecting lives and properties and ensuring the basic needs of people are met. Most governments have tried to overcome these dramatic adverse impacts on millions of lives and their daily survival needs. This has been done through a wide range of economic measures whose approval has followed one another during the highly uncertain evolution of the COVID-19 Pandemic. These measures include fiscal interventions such as tax reliefs, additional public spending (also through dedicated extrabudgetary funds), loans and loan guarantees Footnote 1 . While economic measures have helped some affected populations, billions - indeed—are still suffering and struggling to meet some of their basic survival needs, mostly in Africa and Asia. Yet, the million plus lives lost to the Covid-19 will never be recovered (Farazmand, 2023c /forthcoming 2023a , b ; Farazmand & Danaeefard 2021 ).

The extraordinary and sudden nature of the Pandemic crisis has imposed special attention on the size and timeliness of these ad hockery fiscal responses meeting “the need of the moment” (Schick, 2010 , p. 9). Instead, ensuring public access to clear, comprehensive, reliable and timely information about this fiscal effort was considered a lower priority, at least in the early phase of the pandemic (International Budget Partnership, 2021 ). This happened, despite transparency being supposedly considered “the most important of the principles for budget making and execution in a democratic nation” (Mikesell & Mullins, 2011 , p. 3). Indeed, scholars highlight that government transparency fosters decision makers’ accountability and citizens’ participation (Alt, 2019 ; Capasso et al., 2021 ; Cicatiello et al., 2018 ), thereby determining a wide range of desirable effects (De Renzio & Wehner, 2017 ).

Carrying out exceptional government expenditures without releasing adequately open and accessible information about them implies a weaker system of checks and balances that reveals “system vulnerabilities” (Heald & Hodges, 2020 ) and exposes to the risk of corruptive practices (De Simone et al., 2017 ) or misuse of public funds (De Simone et al., 2019 ). Indeed, experts highlight that many of the government expenditures made during the Covid-19 crisis experienced this risk (International Budget Partnership, 2021 ). For example, governments’ need to promptly react to sudden and unprecedented circumstances created room for higher discretion in public procurement of goods and services, making it “vulnerable to issues of agency and moral hazard” (Bandiera et al., 2021 , p.VII). The case of healthcare is exemplary in this sense: “bid-rigging in public procurement and kickbacks, embezzlement of healthcare funds, opacity in governance, misuse and abuse of power or official positions, nepotism and favoritism in the management, petty corruption at levels of public/civil service, fraud and theft of medicines and medical devices” were all examples of corruption detected in the healthcare sector (Teremetskyi et al., 2021 , p. 26). Efficient government interventions must also entail some forms and intensity of repression of corruption through optimal enforcement of accountability, checks and balances and anti-corruption measures (see, for example, Burlando & Motta 2016 ; Capasso et al., 2019 ).

As a whole, the Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency (GIFT) Footnote 2 has emphasized that the extraordinary governmental spending decisions required by the pandemic challenged the “approaches traditionally used to ensure fiscal transparency, public accountability, and democratic legitimacy.” On the one hand, in times of Covid-19, “a lack of transparency and weak oversight and enforcement have exacerbated the problems of corruption” (Rose-Ackerman, 2021 , p. 20, 30). On the other, malfeasance may have been conducted to a lack of government support and legitimacy, as the OECD recently observed Footnote 3 , and may have exacerbated the economic losses of the most vulnerable parts of the population (Rose-Ackerman, 2021 ).

The Articles

This POR Special mini-symposium Issue on “Corruption, Lack of Transparency, and the Misuse of Public Funds in Times of Crisis” intends to explore the issues faced by governments’ in combining the timeliness of their fiscal responses and the transparency and accountability of their extraordinary fiscal choices. The subject is exhaustive and case studies might be astronomical in number when reported worldwide. Selected carefully through multiple anonymous reviews, five articles—see below–are published from the many submitted for consideration. These articles cover only some areas of corruption with a focus on selected international cases. We are grateful for the contributions of the authors to this special issue as well as to helping advance the knowledge on the subject on corruption. Publication of this Special Mini-Symposium Issue is just a small step in shedding lights on various forms and nature of corruption and misuse of public funds in modern governments and their administrative systems; it is far from being a comprehensive treatment. Many more publications on the subject will be featured in POR in the years to come.

Beyond this introduction, the article by Bruno Blanco Varela, Maria Quintas Perez, Maria del Carmen Sanchez Carreira, Paulo Jorge Reis Mourao examines the evolutions of public procurement expenditures in four deputations of the Spanish Galicia region during the period running before and after the Covid pandemic. The authors find that the Covid crisis is characterized by an increase in the use of minor contracts and in the concentration of suppliers. Taken together, these findings suggest a higher corruption risk.

One of the viable strategies to avoid this risk is to secure the functioning of normal bureaucratic safeguards during unprecedented circumstances. This subject received much attention in the article by Anaïs Valiquette L’Heureux, which explores a “Case Study of Los Angeles City & County Fraud, Embezzlement and Corruption Safeguards during times of Pandemic.” In this article, the author proposes an exploratory case study to assess the effectiveness of deterrence and preventive measures within the County of Los Angeles to prevent fraud and corruption amid the COVID-19 Pandemic. The analysis offers a careful inquiry into emerging risk factors that threaten process integrity related to crisis response and represents an important benchmark for practitioners and scholars interested in analyzing ethical safeguards and risk-mitigation strategies within and through public organizations.

Along similar lines of arguments, Federica Cacciatore, Fabrizio Di Mascio and Alessandro Natalini examine, in their article, the effects on corruption of the degree of transparency and accountability of the policy measures implemented in Italy in the aftermath of the COVID-19 Crisis. The idea is that, because of many coexisting factors - such as the emergency context and the significant amount of funds being transferred as well as the need to implement swiftly spending measures - the recovery plan may have increased the degree of rent extraction by bureaucrats and, consequently, the incentives to incur in corrupt behavior. The article presents an interesting discussion of the measures attached to the recovery plan in Italy and provides an empirical analysis of those measures in terms of transparency, accountability and other related safeguards.

As Heald ( 2006 ) clarifies, the exit from pathological conditions threatening state’s financial management is a matter of institutional capacity (Heald, 2006 ). It is “something that requires significant political will and governance-administrative intolerance in action,” because “ once institutionalized and settled in the minds of the public as well as politicians, business elites, and bureaucrats, corruption becomes almost impossible to get rid of—it would require a revolution to destroy and eradicate but it will come back in different forms as long as the society and its population put up with it” (Farazmand, forthcoming/ 2023a , b ).

In this sense, democratic accountability during Covid-19 is, at first, a matter of trust in institutional checks and balances secured by law of a nation. In their contributing article of this special issue, “Assessing priorities of transparency during COVID-19 Pandemic in Brazil”, Maria Paula Almada, Camilo Aggio, Paula Karini Amorim, Nina Santos and Maria Dominguez Costa Pinho analyze the proactive information behavior of Brazilian States during the pandemic. Differently from the Brazilian Federal Government, which has proven itself as denialist and in favor of anti-scientific measures, most State governments “adopted the role of generating transparency about the COVID-19 pandemic” in hope of promoting the diffusion of epidemiological and fiscal information which as rated and analyzed by authors. Conclusions show the importance of the “federal system to protect basic civil rights and to preserve an important level of a federal unit independence from the general Federal Government” as well as the strategic use of digital communication to promote citizens’ accountability despite Federal Government’s campaign downplaying the severity of the pandemic.

The literature on corruption is certainly one of the most complex, proliferate and voluminous. Yet this issue is still under scrutiny and much work need to be done via deep cases studies, comparative analyses and theoretical formulations to shed light on opaque and unclear features of such a complex phenomenon. As a last contribution, Federico Ceschel, Alessandro Hinna and Fabian Homberg present a meta-analysis of a large number of papers (118) published in the 2000–2020 period studying public measures to curb corruption as implemented around the world. Significantly, they find that despite such a rich set of analyses, the academic research has not fully assessed the nature and extent of corruption risks and, consequently, of the contextualized risk mitigation measures. By highlighting the limitations of this literature, their meta-analysis paves the way for further studies on specific issues related to efficient policy management and opens the doors to new investigations on specific features of corruption.

Concluding Remarks

“Corruption is an extremely complex issue with many dimensions and consequences. They include: human nature, individual or group motivation, lack of adequate understanding of complex legal and institutional measures or safeguards, vagueness and numerous loopholes in anti-corruption measures or laws, cultural differences, moral and ethical belief systems, liberal interpretations of various policies and administrative procedures, contradictory policies or administrative processes, and overlapping or contradictory bases of ethical principles of measures of conducts in public governance and administration systems within single and across countries worldwide. This means a lot more monumental works are need to be done by human agents with high integrity in governments and administrative systems around the world” (Farazmand, 2023b ).

The articles in this Special Mini-Symposium Issue show how the recent global health crisis and the related need to timely provide additional resources put significant challenges to policymakers which troubled the functioning of anti-corruption and transparency practices. The unprecedented circumstances arising from the spread of COVID-19 disease evidence the fundamental necessity to find a compromise between the capacity of governments to adopt timely responses and the implementation of appropriate safeguards to ensure transparency and accountability under globalization (Farazmand, 2002 ), also beyond ordinary practice. Given the multiplication of disastrous events we have unfortunately been witnessing the last two and a half years, this Special Symposium Issue appears to be more than ever extremely relevant for the Post-Pandemic capacity building with necessary mitigating anti-corruption measures, and for future scholarly research. And we always hope the challenges of corruption as a dangerous chronic disease as well as other pandemic crises never escape the attention of policy makers and administrative leaders.

Table of Contents

Farazmand, A., De Simone, E., Gaeta, G.L., Capasso, S. Corruption, Lack of Transparency and the Misuse of Public Funds in Times of Crisis: An Introduction.

Blanco-Varela, B., Quintas-Pérez, M., Sánchez-Carreira, M.C., Reis Mourão, P.J. Covid and Public Funds: More Opportunities for a Misuse? The Case of the Intermediate Governments of Galicia. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-022-00638-5 .

Valiquette L’Heureux, A. Case Study of Los Angeles City & County Fraud, Embezzlement and Corruption Safeguards during times of Pandemic https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-022-00641-w .

Cacciatore, F., Di Mascio, F. & Natalini, A. Do Economic Recovery Packages Open a Window of Opportunity for Corruption and Mismanagement? The Case of Italy in the Aftermath of the Covid-19 Pandemic. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-022-00637-6 .

Almada, M.P., Aggio, C., Amorim, P.K., Santos, N. & Costa Pinho M.D. Assessing Priorities of Transparency During COVID-19 Pandemic in Brazil. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-022-00642-9 .

Ceschel, F., Hinna, A. & Homberg, F. Public Sector Strategies in Curbing Corruption: A Review of the Literature. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-022-00639-4 .

For a detailed overview of the adopted measures, see IMF ( 2022 ). On the same topic, see also the special issue on “Global Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic” published by Public Organization Review . Volume 21, Issue 4, 2021.

https://fiscaltransparency.net/the-role-of-civil-society-organizations-in-ensuring-transparency-and-accountability-in-emergency-policy-responses/ .

http://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/policy-responses/government-support-and-the-covid-19-pandemic-cb8ca170/ .

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Burlando, A., & Motta, A. (2016). Legalize, tax, and deter: Optimal enforcement policies for corruptible officials. Journal of Development Economics , 118 , 207–215

Capasso, S., Goel, R. K., & Saunoris, J. W. (2019). Is it the gums, teeth or the bite? Effectiveness of dimensions of enforcement in curbing corruption. Economics Of Governance , 20 (4), 329–369

Capasso, S., Cicatiello, L., De Simone, E., Gaeta, G. L., & Mourão, P. R. (2021). Fiscal transparency and tax ethics: does better information lead to greater compliance? Journal of Policy Modeling , 45 , 1031–1105

Cicatiello, L., De Simone, E., & Gaeta, G. L. (2018). Cross-Country Heterogeneity in Government Transparency and Citizens’ Political Efficacy: A Multilevel Empirical Analysis. Administration & Society , 50 (4), 595–623

De Renzio, P., & Wehner, J. (2017). The impacts of fiscal openness. The World Bank Research Observer , 32 (2), 185–210

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De Simone, E., Bonasia, M., Gaeta, G. L., & Cicatiello, L. (2019). The effect of fiscal transparency on government spending efficiency. Journal of Economic Studies , 46 (7), 1365–1379

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Farazmand, A. (2002). Administrative Ethics and Professional Competence: Accountability and Performance Under Globalization. International Review of Administrative Sciences , 68 (1), 127–143

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Farazmand, A. (2023b). Corruption and Accountability Problems in Modern Governments. An Introduction, A. Farazmand (Ed.), Corruption and Accountability Problems in Modern Government . Routledge/Taylor and Francis (Forthcoming)

Farazmand, A. (2023c). Advances in Crisis and Emergency Management . Taylor and Francis/Routledge

Farazmand, A., & Danaeefard, H. (2021). Crisismanship under the Most Severe Sanctions: Lessons learned from the Iranian government’s responses to the COVID-19. International Journal of Public Admin , 44 (13), 1149–1164

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Farazmand, A., De Simone, E., Gaeta, G.L. et al. Corruption, lack of Transparency and the Misuse of Public Funds in Times of Crisis: An introduction. Public Organiz Rev 22 , 497–503 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-022-00651-8

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The Research Whisperer

Just like the thesis whisperer – but with more money, why are grant applications confidential.

One of the first rules that I learnt when I started as a research whisperer was that grant applications are confidential documents . We should never talk about an application, other than with the applicants.

I’ve seen that rule applied with different levels of stringency at different times.

Think about these questions for a moment:

• Should the very fact that someone is drafting an application be treated as confidential information?
• Should you be able to talk to other people in the research office about a draft application? How widely?
• Should you be able to send an application for internal review? Do you need to check with the applicant first?
• Is an application still confidential after the grants have been announced? Can we put successful grant applications into a library, so that others can learn from great examples?
• If two applicants are working on similar topics, and would gain from working together, can I introduce them to one another? How?

These questions define the borders of confidentiality. Most research offices would have different answers to some or all of these questions.

Lately, I’ve been wondering if confidentiality is the best way to go. Perhaps we have more to gain from broadcasting research ideas widely, than from keeping them close.

Imagine if grant applications were public, rather than private.

That is what happens, in effect, with a crowdfunding campaign. You can’t crowdfund in private. By definition, you have to publish your idea to raise interest in it. This has some interesting consequences:

• End users (the people you are actually trying to help) can find your research, and can provide support for the idea.
• Colleagues can find it, and can express interest in working with you.
• Stakeholders (e.g. industry or government) can find it, and can fund it themselves.

I’ve spoken to people who have had all of these things happen to them during their crowdfunding campaigns. Christopher Moore, for example, was invited to speak at a panel by the Human Rights Commission because of his crowdfunding campaign. He counted that as a success, even though his fundraising campaign didn’t raise the funds that he was looking for.

Fear of being gazumped

In the main, the idea of keeping a grant application confidential comes from the fear of being gazumped. That is, that someone else will steal your idea and get the research funded, done and published before you can. This is similar to a debate in the publishing industry. As publishers applied digital rights management  (anti-theft) technologies to music and books, Tim O’Reilly pointed out that it wasn’t piracy that most authors and musicians should be worried about, it was obscurity. His argument was that, by making the music and writing openly available, there was a much bigger chance that new audiences would find it. The same is true with open publishing – most data I’ve seen shows that research that is published openly gains more citations.

While I’ve see commentators talk about fears of idea theft and issues around ownership of intellectual property, I haven’t heard those fears from the crowdfunders I’ve spoken to. In part, this is because the people that I’m talking to aren’t undertaking cutting-edge research that is going to earn a million dollars through commercialisation. I understand that there are some areas where commercial espionage is a real issue, and there is a serious threat of ideas being stolen. However, that is a very small part of the research that we generally deal with.

For the most part, I think that researchers may have more to gain by exposing their early ideas than they have to lose. There are some potential advantages to this approach, as well as some potential dangers.

It may help to make an idea stronger, or it may help to make it even less clear. In general, open review helps to eliminate weaknesses from ideas. However, sometimes we can ‘help people to death’. That is, we can provide so much advice that people don’t know what to do. Rather than clarifying the idea, the author tries to incorporate all advice, and the idea just gets muddier.

It may help to gain supporters for an idea, or it may gain detractors. In the best of worlds, exposing an idea to the world can help to build a community of support around it, or can see it adopted by an existing community. This is particularly true for research around rare diseases , where it may be difficult to find participants for a clinical trail. However, many research ideas sit within highly contested space, where they may be greeted with a hostile reception , not a receptive one. That is no fun for anybody.

It may be noticed by your colleagues, who may want to help, or may want to steal your idea. One of the main audiences for research ideas is other researchers. These are the people who are probably most interested in what you’re doing. They may be able to introduce you to others who are doing similar work. They may be able to alert you to foundational work that you haven’t referenced. They may offer to combine their work with yours. Or they may steal your idea and make it their own. You need to balance the risk of advantage versus the risk of theft.

It may gain unexpected avenues of funding  or that colleague who stole it may get it funded when you can’t. By exposing your grant application to more than six people, you raise the chances that interested parties will approach you with funding offers, or other offers of assistance. I’ve spoken to multiple crowdfunders who have been pleasantly surprised when industry or other stakeholders stepped forward and wanted to fund their work. It doesn’t always happen, but it does happen enough to appear as a thread in my interviews. On the other hand, there would be no joy in seeing your idea stolen and funded.

The big reveal

More than anything else, you may gain an audience for your work. At the moment, research works something like the magician’s ‘big reveal’. Everything is confidential during development and while the research is being done, then – ta da! – all is revealed when the research is published.

The big reveal makes research seem like magic to the general public. They don’t see any of the hard work, any of the setbacks, or the long, slow crawl towards results. They also don’t get to see how incremental research is. All they see is a media story based on a press release that talks about the outcome. Ta da!

The problem with this approach is that you don’t get to carry people along with you. The very people that you are trying to help often don’t know what you are doing. When you do reveal your work, they aren’t interested, as they don’t understand where it has come from. They weren’t there for the journey.

Recently, I’ve started changing how I do things with my applicants. Rather than having them all work alone, I’ve encouraged a community of practice around grant development. I can’t do that if they don’t know who one another are. I’m finding that people learn as much from one another as they do from anything that I tell them. I still have some applicants who don’t want to play with others, and I respect their wishes. But, in general, I try to build a group of applicants, rather than work with a large number of individuals.

I’ve also started suggesting that applicants write a story for The Conversation  when they submit their application, to try to expose it to the public. You can see a different version of this idea in the Research Ideas and Outcomes (RIO) journal. This is a journal where you can publish at any stage of the research cycle, including publishing your grant application.

This is a powerful idea, and I’m interested in seeing where it goes. I’ve spoken to a professor who thought that this was a crazy idea. I don’t think that it is so crazy – just a different way of thinking about things.

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Hi Jonathan

I have found you to be a fantastic support in applying for grants and I think you are very good at your job, so I am completely taken aback by some of the points you raise here. You and your colleagues are there to SUPPORT research grant applicants, not to line them up and tell them what to do (other than, of course, meeting the grant specifications). You have always seemed to me to be a person who gets this point, so I am really puzzled by some of these questions.

Any applicant with half a brain knows they are up for stringent external peer review anyway, and will ask for help when they need it as a matter of self-interest.

Your question 3 in particular could only come from someone who works in an immature research culture.

Should you inform a grant applicant that you are sending their application for internal review?

Are you kidding ?

The last time I looked we hadn’t quite got to the stage of university managerialism taking on the qualities of Kafka’s castle, but there are plenty of non-research active bureaucrats out there who would move us in that direction if they could.

I regularly act as a an anonymous peer-reviewer for several journals etc. And I would be happy to help someone out by acting as an internal reviewer on a grant app. -but I would never agree to do that without the applicants clearly expressed permission and the process should not be anonymous because it fulfils a different scholarly purpose.

Years ago I did encounter a well-meaning, meddling person at RMIT who without consultation sent my humanities based application to an internal reviewer with a science background – someone connected to R & I – the fact that neither this well-intentioned ‘manager’ nor the science based reviewer was familiar with my field of research did not prevent the reviewer from littering the app.paper with totally misguided observations- even suggesting a change of fundamental terminology because it was unfamiliar. What this approach suggests to me is a complete lack of respect for the intellectual capacity of the grant applicant, and it would not happen at university with a mature research culture.

Of course researchers should be consulted on whether we want our work assessed by another- and we should also be in a position to choose a reviewer with relevant expertise (whether internal or external), and to choose whether or not their advice is taken on.

We are not children, and should be consulted as a matter of basic professional respect.

This applies to your question 1- Should an application be treated as confidential? – well ask the applicants, and leave the decision to them.

question 2 – should you be able to speak to someone in the research office about an application- again ask the applicants- they will probably say it’s OK

question 4- Can you use successful apps. as examples to help others? Again, ask the applicant- they will probably agree- but a courteous request is always better than coercion.

question 5 Do you introduce 2 people working on similar apps.? – This is a no brainer – once again: ask both applicants

The reason why we are not scoring as well as we could with the ARC for example in the non-science/tech areas is not because we lack good support from people like you- there are other reasons.

As far as I am concerned, you are already doing a great job- so if the process ain’t broke -then don’t fix it.

All the best Linda

Thanks, Linda. My questions were somewhat rhetorical, as attitudes vary across universities. Some universities consider that the applications are the property of the university, and therefore they are free to do with them as they please.

I’ve met other research whisperers who consider every aspect of the application to be completely confidential. They would not even ask if you would like to meet someone else working in a similar area (as that would indicate that there was someone working on another application somewhere).

There are also differences depending on the size of the funds involved. At INORMS 2016 , I listened to Simon McKeon talk about bringing together teams for enormous research funding bids. He used phrases like ‘cold logic’ and ‘starting from a blank slate’ to describe a purely rationalist, industrialised process. Then he talked about the team that he worked with to build the fastest boat in the world, and it was clear that those relationships were based on trust and driven by shared enthusiasm and interest.

I’m very happy that all the projects I work on are based on trust and driven by the researchers, rather than a managerial, institution-driven imperative.

Thanks for your support, and I look forward to working with you on your applications in the future.

Not crazy at all. I’ve been involved in funding applications in four countries, govt and foundations, and it has always seemed to me that many good ideas end up on the cutting room floor, and many weak proposals get funded. Being more public might improve the judgements of those who make decisions.

Yes, Rob, and it would certainly improve transparency, I think.

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Sara Duterte: 'Ang kontra sa confidential funds ay kontra sa kapayapaan'

Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte once again defended her offices’ use of confidential funds, saying that those against the allocation for such are “naturally assumed to have insidious motivations.”

During the 122nd police service anniversary celebration of the Police Regional Office 13 in Butuan City, Duterte stressed the role of confidential funds in maintaining security by providing agencies the necessary resources to address certain challenges.

“Anyone who attacks or undermines funds allocated for peace and order is naturally assumed to have insidious motivations. Such actions go against the protection and well-being of the citizenry. Those who seek to compromise the security and development of our nation jeopardize the very fabric of our society and hinder our progress,” she said.

“Tandaan ninyo—kung sino man ang kumokontra sa confidential funds ay kumokontra sa kapayapaan. Kung sino ang kumokontra sa kapayapaan ay kalaban ng bayan,” she added.

(Remember—whoever is against confidential funds is against peace. Whoever is against peace is an enemy of the nation.)

The Office of the Vice President (OVP) is seeking P500 million worth of confidential funds for fiscal year 2024.

The Department of Education (DepEd), which Duterte also leads as Secretary, also proposed P150 million confidential funds for next year.

Last week, House Committee on Appropriations chairperson Ako Bicol Representative Zaldy Co said that the House of Representatives will realign the confidential and intelligence funds of the OVP, DepEd, and other government agencies to augment the budgets of intelligence and security forces .

Co said the recipients of the realigned allocations would be those tasked to address escalating threats in the West Philippine Sea.

“The country’s safety and security are of paramount importance," Co said.

"To protect our territorial integrity from external threats, Congress is giving top priority to agencies directly in charge protecting the country’s safety and securing its borders,” he added.

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, for his part, said the Senate also intends to reallocate unnecessary funds in certain agencies to the intelligence agencies, the Philippine Coast Guard, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Asked if the confidential funds lodged under the OVP and DepEd will be included, Zubiri said, “We shall review all agencies.”

2022 confidential funds

Duterte is also being questioned by several members of Congress as well as other critics for the OVP’s P125 million confidential expenses in 2022 even if such an item was not provided under last year's General Appropriations Act.

For her part, she said that the allocation of confidential funds “should not be constrained by time.”

“It matters not whether it takes one day or one year of spending. What truly matters is the safety and security of our people. We cannot cap the importance of protecting our citizens based on arbitrary timeframes. We must remain committed to providing the necessary resources for our security forces to fulfill their duties and protect our nation,” Duterte said.

The Commission on Audit (COA) earlier disclosed that the OVP spent the P125 million confidential funds in 11 days in December 2022.

The OVP, however, clarified that the "actual implementation" of the P125 million confidential fund was done in 19 days, not 11 . 

Gaslighting

Minority Leader France Castro, a critic of the confidential funds of OVP and DepEd, accused the vice president of "gaslighting those who want transparency and accountability in the spending of public funds."

In a statement, Castro said Duterte contradicted herself with her latest tirade, given that sheearlier said that her office can live without confidential funds.

"Why is she now fighting tooth and nail just to retain her secret confidential funds? Why is she now gasligthing those who want transparency and accountability in the spending of public funds?" Castro, who represents ACT Teachers party-list at the House of Representatives, said.

The opposition lawmaker further alleged that Duterte is calling her critics enemies of the state just so she can keep her P650 million confidential fund under the proposed 2024 budget intact.  — with Llanesca T. Panti/RSJ/KBK, GMA Integrated News

VERA FILES FACT SHEET: The Maharlika Investment Fund explained

Read this fact sheet in Filipino

The authors of the controversial Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) bill in the House of Representatives dropped the two pension funds – the Social Security System (SSS) and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) – as primary funding sources in response to a mounting outcry from various sectors and individuals, including administration allies.

Filed by Speaker Martin Romualdez on Nov. 28, the bill was approved by the committee on banks and financial intermediaries on Dec. 1. It still has to hurdle the ways and means and the appropriations committees before it goes to the plenary for second and third readings.

One of its authors, Majority Leader Manuel Dalipe, said the House aims to approve the bill on second reading before Congress adjourns on Dec. 16.

As public debate over the MIF rages, here’s what you need to know on the issue:

1. What is the MIF?  

Among the six proponents of the MIF, three are closely related to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr . and occupy powerful and influential positions in Congress. Speaker Martin Romualdez is a first cousin of the president and is joined by his wife, Yedda Marie, as the bill’s principal sponsors, along with the president’s eldest son, Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” Marcos.

Section 9 of HB 6398 initially identified GSIS and the SSS and two other government financial institutions (GFIs), including the Land Bank of the Philippines, and the national budget as primary sources of funds of the MIF.

This is not the first time a bill proposing a sovereign welfare fund (SWF) was introduced in Congress. In 2016, former senator Paulo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV sought the establishment of a Philippine Investment Fund Corporation (PIFC). 

(Read VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Arroyo, Marcos claim that Bam Aquino proposed ‘same’ sovereign wealth fund bill needs context )

The global organization Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute (SWFI) defines SWF as an investment fund or entity owned by the state. Its initial investment often comes from a country’s surplus funds, extra foreign reserves, proceeds from privatization and revenue from resource exports such as mining and oil.

HB 6398 similarly defines SWF as “state-owned investment funds typically financed by a country’s surplus revenues or reserves.”

2. Why is the MIF facing so much backlash?

While Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno had voiced his support for MIF, several economists and legal experts have raised their concerns on several provisions of the bill, including the sources of its initial investment.

As first proposed, the MIF was to take P125 billion from GSIS and P50 billion from SSS. While GSIS can invest funds which are not needed to meet its obligations to contributors, the GSIS Law specifies the types of safer investments the agency can make. The proposed MIF, however, is allowed to invest in riskier assets and more opaque transactions.

“You will notice that it ( Article 4, Section 2 of HB 6398 ) mentions financial derivatives. Now, that’s a high-risk investment, merong chance na malugi ka talaga diyan (There’s a real chance you’ll lose money from these),” lawyer Jan Fredrick Cruz, a lecturer in law, economics, and public policy at the Ateneo de Manila University, said in an interview with VERA Files Fact Check.

A financial derivative is a security or a tradable asset whose value depends on the value of another asset.

After facing a heavy backlash, Marikina City Rep. Stella Quimbo said on Dec. 7 that the Committee on Appropriations will remove the SSS and GSIS as funding sources for the MIF.

Aside from financial derivatives, HB 6398 allows the MIF to invest in alternative investments such as unlisted equities, shares from a company that are not registered in the stock market. 

“These assets are highly illiquid, meaning, it’s not easy to turn them into cash. Some of these investments are not listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange. They’re privately traded. So, in other words, the transaction can be quite opaque,” Cruz explained.

Since the fund’s purpose, according to the bill, is to “promote economic growth and social development,” Cruz said that any transaction or investment can easily be justified through these.

“As much as we all want economic development… it sort of authorizes the managers of the sovereign wealth fund to engage in any financial investment because they can always argue that this directly or indirectly contributes to economic growth,” he noted.

Although the authors of HB 6398 insist that transparency mechanisms are in place under the proposed law, the MIF’s exception to laws, such as the Government Procurement Reform Act or Republic Act 9184 , raises red flags. The exemption from RA 9184 means that the MIF’s contracts will not be scrutinized by the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel.

In Article 10 Section 35 of HB 6398 , the MIF’s records can be accessed only with the approval of its Board of Directors, which the president will chair. For an SWF to be effective, Cruz said a fund’s management should be free from political influence.

“I don’t think that is a situation where you have arm’s length from the political branches of government because you have a politician as chairperson,” he pointed out.

The House Committee on Appropriations revised the bill on Dec. 9 to make the secretary of finance the chair of the Board of Directors.

Critics also question the timing of the MIF proposal as inflation hit 8% in November. At the same time, the country is experiencing a dollar deficit, where the government has lower U.S. dollars in its reserves than it needs for international trade. This happens when a country is paying more for its imports. 

Cruz emphasized the importance of using surplus funds for a SWF. “ Pwede kang manalo, pwede kang matalo sa investments (You can win or lose in investments), and if malugi ka , mawawala ang pera mo (and if you lose, then you lose money). And that’s why you take advantage of the surplus because you’re able to cover what needs to be spent for while having excess money to invest,” he said.

3. How do other countries manage their sovereign wealth fund?

Norway established its SWF after discovering oil in the North Sea in 1969. Hoping to protect future generations from the volatility of the oil market, Norway created the Government Pension Fund Global in 1996.

Norway’s fund currently has holdings in approximately 9,000 companies internationally and invests in real estate in leading cities. The fund is only invested abroad and is currently worth more than 12 trillion Norwegian kroner (approximately P72 trillion). 

To ensure the longevity of the fund, the Norwegian government spends only the expected return of the fund. “In this way, oil revenue is phased only gradually into the economy. At the same time, only the return on the fund is spent, and not the fund’s capital,” according to the Norges Bank Investment Management’s website.

Cruz also mentioned Kiribati’s Revenue Equalization Reserve Fund (RERF). The state established its SWF with proceeds from guano, a fertilizer made from accumulated excrement of seabirds. Although Kiribati’s reserves were depleted in 1979, the country continues to reap the benefits of the RERF. The Asian Development Bank noted that the RERF cushioned Kiribati’s economy from the economic downturn brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the other hand, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) was created in 2009 and was a part of former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak’s plan to alleviate poverty. However, after 1MDB missed a loan payment worth $550 million in 2015, Razak was accused of pocketing nearly $700 million from 1MDB. He was found guilty of transferring $9.8 million to his personal bank account on Aug. 23.

*Cruz said his views expressed in the interview do not reflect those of his affiliations.

Have you seen any dubious claims, photos, memes, or online posts that you want us to verify? Fill out this reader request form .

House of Representatives, HB 06398 , Nov. 28, 2022

GMA News Online, Maharlika Fund bill co-author eyes House 2nd reading nod before Christmas break , Dec. 7, 2022

Inquirer.net, Maharlika Investment Fund may be tackled in 2nd reading within December — Dalipe , Dec. 7, 2022

Manila Bulletin, Proposed ‘Maharlika’ fund OK’d by House panel, given final name , Dec. 1, 2022

Foundation for Economic Freedom Official Facebook Page, JOINT STATEMENT | The Proposed Sovereign Wealth Fund: A Statement of Concern , Dec. 5, 2022

Inquirer.net, Economists, business groups oppose Maharlika Wealth Fund bill , Dec. 5, 2022 

ABS-CBN News, Gov’t must first clarify purpose of Maharlika fund: economist , Dec. 7, 2022

Interview with Atty. Jan Fredrick Cruz, Dec. 7, 2022

Senate of the Philippines, S.B. 1212 (17th Congress) , Oct. 19, 2016

Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, What is a Sovereign Wealth Fund? , accessed on Dec. 7, 2022

Government Service Insurance System, Republic Act No. 8291 , accessed on Dec. 5, 2022

International Monetary Fund, Financial Derivatives , accessed on Dec. 8, 2022

Inquirer.net, Proposed Maharlika Fund would no longer include SSS, GSIS funds — Quimbo , Dec. 7, 2022

CNN Philippines, Lawmakers to remove SSS, GSIS as funding sources in Maharlika Wealth Fund bill , Dec. 7, 2022

GMA News, GSIS, SSS dropped as mandatory sources of capital for Maharlika Fund , Dec. 7, 2022

Government Procurement Policy Board, Handbook on Philippine Government Procurement , accessed on Dec. 8, 2022

Philippine Statistics Authority, Summary Inflation Report Consumer Price Index (2018=100): November 2022 , Dec. 6, 2022

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, INTERNATIONAL RESERVES AND FOREIGN CURRENCY LIQUIDITY , Oct. 31, 2022

Investopedia, Dollar shortage , accessed on Dec. 8, 2022

Norges Bank Investment Management, About the fund , accessed on Dec. 6, 2022

United States Department of State, Kiribati , accessed on Dec. 7, 2022

Asian Development Bank, Asian Development Bank and Kiribati: Fact Sheet , April 2022

The Guardian, Malaysian taskforce investigates allegations $700m paid to PM Najib , July 6, 2015

Al Jazeera, Timeline: How Malaysia’s 1MDB financial scandal unfolded , July 28, 2020

Wall Street Journal, FBI Probes Malaysia Development Fund , Sept. 19, 2015

Bloomberg, Ex-PM Najib Heads to Malaysia Jail After Exhausting 1MDB Appeals , Aug. 23, 2022

BBC News, Najib Razak: Malaysia’s ex-PM starts jail term after final appeal fails , Aug. 23, 2022

The New York Times, Hermès Bags and Millions in Cash: The Fall of Malaysia’s Najib Razak , Sept. 14, 2022

(Guided by the code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network at Poynter, VERA Files tracks the false claims, flip-flops, misleading statements of public officials and figures, and debunks them with factual evidence. Find out more about this initiative and our methodology .)

Read other interesting stories:

Click thumbnails to read related articles.

VERA FILES FACT SHEET: Maharlika Investment Fund ipinaliwanag

VERA FILES FACT CHECK: BSP governor Medalla’s joint statement with economic managers supporting Maharlika Investment Fund bill needs context

VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Pahayag nina Arroyo at Marcos na ipinanukala rin ni Bam Aquino ang parehong sovereign wealth fund bill nangangailangan ng konteksto

Vera files fact check: joint statement ni bsp governor medalla kasama ang mga economic managers na sumusuporta sa maharlika investment fund bill nangangailangan ng konteksto.

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Study Portal - Economics and Business Administration

Confidential theses and projects.

Students often cooperate with companies or organisations when writing major assignments, such as bachelor's project, project-based internship, and master's thesis – for the sake of simplicity called 'assignments’ in the following. A confidentiality agreement may be required, but only if requested by the company/organisation.

Step 1 - Assignments and confidentiality

In many cases, a confidentiality agreement is not necessary. Check whether the declaration of confidentiality is enough for your assignment. 

If it is enough, you can indicate whether your assignment may be available in the liberary, when you submit your assignment.   Click here to read more.

If this is not enough, go to step 2. 

Step 2 - Types of confidentiality agreements

There are two different types of confidentiality agreements if the declaration of confidentiality is not enough. If the company/organisation requires a confidentiality agreement, use one of the below:

The declaration of confidentiality is not enough and a confidentiality certificate must be drawn up.

This can be: 

• An AU Standard confidentiality agreement
• A Company-specific confidentiality agreement

Click here to read more.

Assignments and declaration of confidentiality

In connection with the student's work on an assignment, the AU supervisor, co-examiner and other persons at Aarhus University (secretaries and other administrative staff) has a duty of confidentiality in accordance with Danish Public Administration Act. It is worth noting that the information provided to the supervisor during the supervision process is subject to confidentiality in accordance with the rules laid down in the Danish Public Administration Act.

Therefore, there is generally no need for a confidentiality agreement if the company/organisation does not request one.

No copies will be distributed by AU to other parties, unless the student, for example, places the assignment on loan via AU libraries, or if the legislation otherwise requires disclosure (e.g. in the case of request subject access to documents).

In the event of an appeal in connection with an examination appeal, assignments will be available to all members of the Board of Appeals, and these will all be covered by the duty of confidentiality, cf. Danish Public Administration Act.

Assignments marked confidential

If an assignment contains confidential information, students must mark it as 'confidential' when submitting the assignment. This is done on the front page of the assignment and must also be chosen by the student in WISEflow for assignments submitted electronically.

When submitting a final assignment (bachelor's project and master's thesis), the student also has the opportunity of not consenting to the assignment being made available via the library. This means that the assignment will not be accessible for reading and/or lending.

For some companies/organisations, marking the assignment as confidential is sufficient, while others will ask for a confidentiality agreement.

If a company/organisation requests a confidentiality agreement, such an agreement can be made between the student, the company/organisation and AU. A confidentiality agreement is thus primarily intended to regulate the student's behaviour towards the company/organisation by obliging the student to process anything that it may have access to with confidentiality.

If the company/organisation wishes to make a confidentiality agreement and if the agreement is acceptable to AU, it can be signed by AU. See more about different types of confidentialoty agreements under the following section.

If a confidentiality agreement is signed, the supervisor/examiner ensures, cf. the Examination Order, that any associated oral examination is closed to the audience.

Types of confidentiality agreements

A confidentiality agreement can be drawn up between the company/organisation, AU and the student in order to comply with the requirements of the Examination Order, if the company/organisation requires it.

As a general rule, AU's standard confidentiality agreement should be used, but in some cases, it may be necessary to use a company-specific confidentiality agreement.

If a confidentiality agreement is entered into, it is the student's responsibility to ensure that it is concluded and signed in good time before the submission deadline for an assignment.

Standard Confidentiality Agreement

Standard Confidentiality Agreement Standard confidentiality agreement can be found here  (the two at the bottom of the page respectively in English and Danish).

The following procedure applies when the standard confidentiality agreement is used:

• The student in question
• The company in question 
• The supervisor
• The student must subsequently submit the standard confidentiality agreement to the departmental programme coordinator for signing (see below)
• Once everyone has signed the confidentiality agreement, the student must, via his/her AU-mail, submit an electronic copy to [email protected] (Technology Transfer Office) for filing and storing.

Please note that if changes are made to the standard confidentiality agreement, the agreement must be approved by TTO. This will often result in the process of entering into a confidentiality agreement taking significantly longer than when the standard confidentiality agreement is used. It is therefore encouraged, as far as possible, to use the standard confidentiality agreement.

Company-specific Confidentiality Agreement

If a company makes a requirement for this, a company-specific confidentiality agreement must be used instead. This must be approved by TTO (Technology Transfer Office; [email protected]) on behalf of the university. The supervisor must, via his/her AU-mail, sent this agreement to TTO when signed.

The following procedure applies when the company-specific confidentiality agreement is used:

• Students must make the supervisor aware that they are using another agreement than the standard confidentiality agreement
• The supervisor must send the agreement to TTO for negotiation/approval on behalf of AU
• When the agreement has been approved, the supervisor must send it to the departmental programme coordinator (or, if AU surrender rights, the department head) for signing. The supervisor must also sign the agreement and thereby confirm that he/she is aware of the agreement
• The student will then receive the signed contract and must make sure that it is signed by the company
• Once the company has signed the contract, the supervisor must return the contract to TTO ( [email protected] ) for filing and storing.

It is important to emphasise that the student must familiarise themselves with the content of the agreement – the student must be the one who complies with the agreement. If the student needs advice on the content of the agreement and/or needs to negotiate the terms of the agreement, the student must seek his or her own adviser. AU cannot advise students on any further details of the agreement, nor is able to negotiate on behalf of the student.

Departmental Programme Coordinators

The following directors of studies may sign the confidentiality agreement (Standard Confidentiality Agreement, and Company-specific Confidentiality Agreement where no rights are surrendered):

MSc in Economics and Business Administration,  MSc in Business Administration, Accounting and Auditing, and Business Economics with supplementary subject/MSoc.  

• Lars Esbjerg : MSc in Economics and Business Administration and Business Economics with supplementary subject/MSoc
• Frank Thinggard : MSc in Business Administration, Accounting and Auditing

BSc in Economics and Business Administration/Business Economics with supplementary subject

• Charlotte Christiansen : BSc in Economics and Business Administration/Business Economics with supplementary subject
• Inger Mørch Hauge : BSc in Economics and Business Administration (Herning)

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Despite her defense of Sara Duterte’s confidential funds, Quimbo remains a party member – LP

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This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

LAWMAKER. Marikina Representative Stella Luz Quimbo presides over the committee of appropriations hearing on the proposed budget of the Phillipine Charity Sweepstakes Office for 2024, on September 12, 2023.

MANILA, Philippines – Despite the involvement of Marikina 2nd District Representative Stella Luz Quimbo in the defense of the controversial confidential and intelligence (CIF) funds of Vice President Sara Duterte, the opposition Liberal Party (LP) said the lawmaker remains their member.

“The enduring tradition of the Liberal Party is to allow its members to take independent views on national issues in recognition of a member’s freedom of expression and dissent. Rep. Stella Quimbo is still a member of the Liberal Party,” LP’s management committee said in a statement on Saturday, October 7.

The LP explained that its decision to not sanction Quimbo was unanimously reached by the management committee, along with some district representatives.

The party of the late former presidents Corazon Aquino and Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III said there was a clamor to sanction Quimbo due to the latter’s stance on some of the Marcos government’s controversial moves. This included Quimbo’s defense of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education’s confidential funds, and the lawmaker’s support for the Maharlika Investment Fund.

Quimbo’s retention in the party means the LP’s contingent in the lower chamber would not be reduced. Once a dominant party, the LP now has seven members in the House of Representatives, according to LP president and Albay 1st District Representative Edcel Lagman.

Stella Quimbo, controversial star at a political crossroads

A former professor at the University of the Philippines School of Economics, Quimbo was appointed by Noynoy Aquino in 2016 as a commissioner at the Philippine Competition Commission.

She resigned in 2019, ran for Congress under the LP’s flag, and won the Marikina 2nd District seat that year. Quimbo was reelected in 2022.

In 2023, Quimbo made news after she eagerly defended Vice President Duterte’s receipt of confidential funds. Later on, it was also Quimbo who exposed that the OVP’s P125-million confidential funds in 2022 were spent in a shorter period of time – within 11 days – and not 19, as earlier reported.

On September 27, the House of Representatives committed to remove Duterte’s confidential funds in the 2024 budget. – Rappler.com

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