Comelec chief opposes bill seeking gov't funds for political parties

MANILA, Philippines – Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Jose Melo is opposed to a House bill that seeks government funding for political parties, saying taxes must be spent on basic social services.

A militant lawmaker, on the other hand, said the hasty approval of the bill is “potentially the biggest pork barrel to aid the ruling parties in the coming 2010 elections.”

“For me, politicians should be low on our priority. With the limited resources that we have, I don’t think this system will work,” Melo told The STAR.

The House of Representatives had approved the bill, which detractors claimed would allow taxes to be utilized for election campaigns. The bill was patterned after the United States, where the Democratic and Republican parties received federal funds.

“I think with the budget that we have, we can only fund the candidacy of those running in barangay elections,” Melo noted in jest.

But in case the bill becomes law, the poll chief maintained that it should benefit only the “poor candidates.”

“We should not spend for the affluent candidates. This bill should benefit only the poor candidates. But we have to monitor this closely. We have to make sure that they spend the money properly. They must be held accountable for that,” he added.

Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño said House Bill 3655, entitled “An Act Strengthening the Political Party System, Appropriating Funds Therefore and for Other Purposes,” is the largest priority development assistance fund simply because it has no specific amount.

“This proposed measure is basically the biggest pork barrel of them all since the bill mandates state funding for the travel expenses of candidates and their staff, outreach programs, recruitment drives, campaigns, etc.,” he said.

“This is definitely part of the preparations of the ruling majority parties for the coming 2010 presidential elections,” Casiño said. Beneficiaries of this measure will most probably be the ruling Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats party and its allied parties in the administration coalition.

In a statement, the party-list congressman said HB 3655 was “railroaded” near the closing of the Aug. 27 session at the House of Representatives, to benefit the ruling party and its allies.

“HB 3655, as specified in Chapter III, establishes a state subsidy fund which actually mandates taxpayers to shoulder the expenses and operations of accredited political parties,” he said.

“This is worse than the traditional pork barrel which has to be released on the pretext of priority projects for constituents. This time the funds in this proposed law will go directly to the pockets of politicians who lord it over the major political parties and this time, it will not be the executive, but the politicians themselves who will decide the amounts to be appropriated in the General Appropriations Act every year,” Casiño warned.

HB 3655 stipulates that funds will be distributed to accredited national political parties based on their seats in the House (50%) and the Senate (45%). The remaining five percent is given to the Comelec for monitoring, information dissemination, and voter education.

The House, by a vote of 132-0, approved the bill Wednesday night, even if more than 100 of the total 238 members were either absent or had gone home after the roll call without finishing their last session for the week.

However, after the vote was announced, several congressmen protested the voting result and even the decision of House leaders to put the measure to a vote.

The measure, whose principal author is ousted Speaker Jose de Venecia, also seeks to ban the practice of “turncoatism,” or elected officials who jump from one political party to another.

De Venecia has explained that his proposal should lessen “political corruption” by allowing political groups to refuse funds offered to them by “criminal elements like gambling and drug lords.”

Meanwhile, Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz yesterday described the approval of the bill as “odious and devious.”

“It is a sad moment in Philippine history that the citizens are requested to pay the taxes from birth to death and that it is not a secret that the administration is spending public funds like it’s nobody’s business,” Cruz, a staunch critic of the Arroyo administration, said.

“Now comes this supposed law that is definitely unjust, precisely because it is again the people’s money that would be used specifically for partisan politics. It is not a secret that when money is used for partisan politics those in power get most of the money and the opposition get nothing,” he added.

As a taxpayer, he said he has the right to express his opposition to the bill. “I pay direct and indirect taxes like everybody else so I think I can talk as a taxpayer.”

He said De Venecia, the principal author of the measure, should be informed how much people had to suffer just to pay the appropriate taxes to the government. The government should instead allocate budget for irrigation, education and other worthwhile projects.

But he admitted that this is not a new practice in politics. During previous elections, politicians clandestinely and illegally relied on government projects and lobby money to finance their campaigns but this time they are making it legal. – Delon Porcalla, Eveleyn Macairan