Chiz files second resolution seeking PDAF abolition

MANILA, Philippines - While President Aquino has refused to support calls for the abolition of the pork barrel, his allies in the Senate have expressed willingness to give it up amid public anger over the alleged misuse of the funds.

Sen. Francis Escudero filed the second resolution calling for the abolition of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), or congressional pork barrel, following the one filed by Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano.

“The people have spoken and it is necessary to draw the line further between public accountability and patronage politics by being truthful to the constitutional allocation of powers and prerogatives,” Escudero said in the resolution.

“Now, it has already mutated into a multi-billion racket allegedly perpetrated by syndicates in both the public and private sectors. Despite proper use and disbursement by well-meaning public officials and despite its statutory laudable purpose, the misconception that the pork barrel has become a form of ‘horse trading’ and a major source of corruption in the government is apparently starting to become real in the eyes of the Filipino people,” he noted.

Other administration senators also appear to have no qualms about giving up this P200-million annual allocation for each of their offices.

Senate President Franklin Drilon was among the first to support the proposals to abolish the PDAF or limiting its use to specific projects.

Drilon expressed belief that opposition would come from the House of Representatives and not from the Senate because of the greater requirement of congressmen to provide infrastructure and services to their constituents.

For his part, Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto said the abolition of the PDAF should be coupled with an effort to make the national budget more transparent.

“All projects should be by line item in the General Appropriations Act so every local government, district and community will know where the money is spent and what to expect. We should reform the entire national budget,” Recto said.

Sen. Teofisto Guingona III said he would also vote for the abolition of the PDAF if and when the resolutions filed by Cayetano and Escudero are taken up in plenary.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago previously said the pork barrel could be abolished as early as January 2014 by reducing the allocation for the PDAF in the proposed P2.268-trillion national budget for 2014 to zero.

But she believes that there would be strong opposition from legislators, so another way of going about this would be to implement a gradual reduction of the fund.

Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara supports Santiago’s proposal but said that if ever the PDAF would be retained, stricter safeguards against corruption must be instituted.

For instance, specific projects to be funded by the PDAF should be listed ahead of time and the beneficiaries should be limited to schools and government agencies.

Minority bloc: We can do without PDAF

Even members of the Senate minority bloc also expressed willingness to give up their pork.

Sen. Vicente Sotto III said that he would no longer avail of his PDAF starting next year in light of the reported misuse of the funds over the past years.

Sen. JV Ejercito also said that he could perform his duties even without the PDAF.

“We were elected as legislators, not as administrators. We have to be sensitive to what the people want, after all we are their representatives. I can manage to perform my duties without the pork barrel,” Ejercito said.

“Also, as a neophyte senator, I would want to put an end to this issue once and for all and restore the faith of the people in the Senate and Congress,” he added.

Tweak the pork, don’t scrap it  – LP leader

Congressmen, meanwhile, support President Aquino’s decision to retain the pork barrel provided that the system of releasing and using the funds is tightened.

The secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Party, Western Samar Rep. Mel Senen Sarmiento, said the widespread irregularities uncovered by state auditors in the use of the pork barrel were “startling and mind-boggling.” But those anomalies do not justify depriving congressional districts nationwide of their fund entitlements from the P25-billion PDAF in the annual national budget.

“Let’s us tweak the entire system of congressional entitlements and put in place all the necessary mechanisms to make it even more transparent and corruption-free,” he added.

PDAF allocates P200 million a year for each senator and P70 million for each member of the House of Representatives.

Several senators and congressmen and various sectors of society have been calling for abolition of the pork barrel since the Commission on Audit came out with its findings on irregularities. – With Jess Diaz, Mayen Jaymalin