Speaker defends SARO, asks public to judge based on projects

MANILA, Philippines - In answer to queries about 800 Special Allotment Release Orders (SAROs) allegedly received by legislators, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said on Monday that a SARO should be gauged on how it was used.

“The number of SAROs is not as important as their total and whether these funds were used wisely and legally," he said.

He added that many congressmen tend to “break up whatever they get into many smaller projects to spread around their districts,” with the intent of affording more services and benefits to a larger number of their constituents.

“I am aware of many members who have projects actually being implemented and currently benefiting their districts,” Belmonte added.

He stressed that he is more than willing to release the list of SARO beneficiaries among House Members once it becomes available.

“We must not always jump to conclusions and dub something as negative or ill-intentioned without the facts,” the Speaker said.

“I have always asked my colleagues in the House to account for their projects and the funding afforded them for these. Each of us is responsible to our constituents and to the Filipino people and should be open to scrutiny in terms of where these public funds are utilized.”

He also said that these SAROs were released to lawmakers in support of their constituencies and following what was then a regular process in the release of funds by the Department of Budget and Management prior to the Supreme Court declaring the Disbursement Acceleration Program unconstitutional.

Belmonte is confident that none of these SAROs ended up with businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles or other questionable non-government organizations.

Napoles, now detained a police camp in Laguna, is allegedly the brains behind the P10-billion pork barrel scam.