Lacson scraps own P200-M pork barrel

For the second consecutive year, Sen. Panfilo Lacson gave up his P200-million pork barrel fund before the Senate approved last Friday the government’s budget for the year.

"I have given up my pork barrel allocation for the second straight year because of my belief, which is based on concrete conditions, that only less than half of taxpayers’ money actually goes to the programs of work," he told a businessmen’s conference last Friday.

The pork barrel, formally known as priority development fund allocations, are allocated to legislators each year to fund development projects or programs that they deem should be given priority funding.

Lacson, however, says much of the money either goes to waste or misspent.

Aside from helping the government keep the budget deficit down, the presidential contender said the move was part of his campaign against graft.

Last year, Lacson filed graft charges against several Department of Public Works and Highways officials and private contractors after discovering that they were skimming money from funds intended for projects financed from his 2002 pork barrel.

The former national police chief vowed to fight corruption if he wins the presidency in May. The country’s struggling economy will dramatically improve if corruption is stamped out, he said.

Various international agencies have expressed concern about massive corruption in the Philippines, which analysts say has discouraged foreign investors.

Early last year, President Arroyo launched an anti-corruption campaign that included "lifestyle checks" on government officials.

Mrs. Arroyo pledged to curb corruption — which hounded past administrations and brought down her predecessor, Joseph Estrada — when she took over the presidency in 2001.

On the third anniversary of her succession last Tuesday, however, critics and former Arroyo allies accused her of doing too little to stem corruption. Mrs. Arroyo denied betraying the ideals of the uprising that catapulted her to the presidency.

Estrada was toppled by a popular revolt in January 2001 following allegations of massive corruption. He was replaced by then vice president Arroyo.

Estrada is currently on trial for allegedly running an illegal gambling protection racket and pocketing state funds. He denies the charges.

Independent estimates suggest at least a fifth of the government budget is lost through graft.

One local watchdog group, Procurement Watch Inc., estimated that the Philippines loses P21 billion a year to corruption in the procurement of government goods and services alone.

About 15 percent of the cost of all government contracts is also lost to corruption, it said.