Lacson confirms additional pork barrel from Road User's Tax

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Panfilo Lacson confirmed yesterday that each senator is getting an additional P30 million on top of the P200 million in pork barrel funds allocated in the 2011 national budget.

He said the additional funds would come from the proceeds of the Road User’s Tax.

When asked at the weekly news forum Kapihan sa Senado, Lacson immediately defended the Palace regarding the “initiative” which will benefit the senators as well as the over 200 congressmen (P10 million each) and at least 14 governors allied with the ruling Liberal Party.

Since the budget will be coming from the Motor Vehicles’ Users Charge (MVUC) also known as the Road User’s Tax, Lacson said the decision came from the Road Board, which handles nearly P10 billion in annual collections from the MVUC.

“As far as I know, Malacañang has nothing to do (with it). The Department of Budget and Management has nothing to do with it since this is off budget. Not only those who voted for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao election postponement got it. All congressmen, including party-list representatives, and senators, and it’s up to them to inform (the Board) about the projects where they wanted the money to be spent,” Lacson said.

Lacson, who has not gotten his annual P200-million Priority Development and Assistance Fund (PDAF) since he became senator, said this is a first in the history of pork barrel distribution.

“Before, GMA (President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) used the Road User’s Tax to pay street sweepers but the purpose of the tax is for repairs, improvement of roads, not for sweeping. This is the first time that this is happening, and I’d like to congratulate MVUC board because they will use the taxes from vehicle owners better,” he said.

Lacson said he has directed the Road Board to use his allocation for his home province of Cavite, and also for Camarines Norte.

The senator, whose term ends in 2013, said he has not received his pork barrel for about 11 and a half years because he believes that it is prone to corruption.

“So, by the time I graduate in 2013, I would have saved Juan dela Cruz something like P2.35 billion,” Lacson said.

But Finance committee chairman Sen. Franklin Drilon was dumbfounded when he saw the report in The STAR.

He claimed he had no knowledge about the additional pork barrel, and that he had no idea how it came about since the government’s income from the Road User’s Tax is not within the realm of the General Appropriations Act since the law gave the Road Board authority to use the money, provided that these are utilized for maintenance of national roads.

“I don’t know about this. No request passed by my office for the releases of the Motor Vehicles’ Users Charge. I have been in the Senate for the past 13 years and I have not availed of any assistance from the MVUC,” Drilon told reporters.

“This is not like the PDAF wherein the requests pass by me as chairman of the Senate committee on finance, and as a matter of coordination in the budget.”