Lawmakers to receive P18 billion in ‘pork’

Senators and congressmen will have nearly P18 billion in pork barrel funds next year.

The amount is included in the version of the 2002 national budget that the House appropriations committee chaired by Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. (Lakas, Camarines Sur) is set to endorse tomorrow.

But Andaya said the money will be used only for "good cholesterol" projects such as farm-to-market roads, classrooms and post-harvest facilities.

Of the P18 billion in pork barrel funds, P14.3 billion will be allotted to a minimum of 220 House members, including party-list representatives, at P65 million each.

The allocation for every member of the larger chamber will be P15 million higher than last year’s and this year’s fund.

Senators will get P150 million each, or a total of P3.6 billion for all 24 of them. Their allotment will be P50 million higher than the 2000 and this year’s P100-million level.

Andaya said the funds will be for development projects to be undertaken by executive agencies in consultation with the concerned congressman/congresswoman or senator.

He said lawmakers will be allowed to identify such projects but in a "transparent and accountable manner."

"They will not meddle in the implementation of such projects," he added.

In actuality, however, many members of Congress do not only identify their projects but even get to have the contracts awarded to their favored contractors.

Some months ago, there were reports that thousands of bags of rice purchased by some congressmen from the National Food Authority were in turn sold to private traders and converted into cash which the lawmakers presumably pocketed or used for other purposes.

Andaya said there will be a "negative list" of projects identifying those that cannot be funded such as waiting sheds, basketball courts, medicines, instructional materials, rice, and study tours for local officials.

He justified the allocation of a minimum amount of funds for each congressional district, saying this is the only way that remote areas and communities represented by the opposition get their rightful share of national resources.

He said congressmen know more about their district’s needs than "bureaucrats in their ivory towers or parachuting consultants."

Meanwhile, Rep. Juan Miguel Zubiri (Lakas, Bukidnon) revealed yesterday that the country’s firemen have only 261 breathing equipment which they can use in case of a germ attack or accident.

Of this number, there are only 99 in Metro Manila, he said.

"The fact that there are fewer than four pieces of air-breathing equipment in the government inventory for every one million Filipinos is proof that the country is ill-prepared for a biological emergency or even a high-rise building fire," he said.

As to ambulance and rescue vans, the Bureau of Fire Protection has 79, but 10 are under repair, leaving only 69 units working. Of this number, 29 are deployed in Metro Manila, Zubiri added.

In a related development, another Lakas congressman said with the weakening peso, the country will have to shell out an additional P9.2 billion next year for its foreign debt payments.

Rep. Robert Ace Barbers of Surigao del Norte said the P154 billion set aside in the 2002 budget for foreign debt service is based on an exchange rate of P50 to $1.

However, he said the multi-agency Development and Budget Coordinating Council, realizing the futility of sticking to that rate given the bad global economic conditions, has adjusted its forecast to a range of P51.50 to P52.50 to the dollar.

He said the total amount to be appropriated for servicing the nation’s debts, including those owed to the domestic market, will be about P370 billion next year.