Palace impounds P500-M ‘pork’ of Jinggoy, Nancy

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang has impounded P500 million in realigned pork barrel funds for 2014 of Sen. Nancy Binay and detained Sen. Jinggoy Estrada.

Of that amount, P200 million was Estrada’s allocation, which he distributed to Manila (P100 million) where his father Joseph Estrada is mayor, and to Caloocan City (P50 million) and Lal-lo town (P50 million) in Cagayan province.

Binay realigned P300 million to the National Housing Authority (NHA), one of the agencies led by her father Vice President Jejomar Binay.

The realignments were made in December last year, before the Senate and the House of Representatives approved the 2014 budget and a month after the Supreme Court declared the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) as unconstitutional.

PDAF was the official name of the congressional pork barrel.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad told The STAR that Estrada’s P200 million and Binay’s P300 million would no longer be released as this year’s budget will expire on Dec. 31.

He said the release of such amounts would require a “special request” from the proponent of the realignment and the intended beneficiary-agency.

“So far, I have not seen any such request,” he said.

Binay’s P300-million realignment to NHA was allocated to the agency’s “central office.” Including that amount, the housing agency is supposed to receive a total of P11.251 billion in taxpayers’ subsidy this year.

Estrada’s P200 million is part of the P405-million Local Government Support Fund (LGSF).

In the 2014 budget he submitted to Congress, President Aquino proposed P205 million for the LGSF.

A special provision mentions Manila, Caloocan City and Lla-lo town as beneficiaries of Estrada’s pork barrel fund and the amounts they are supposed to receive.

However, Aquino, in signing the 2014 budget, made a conditional veto on Estrada’s realignments.

The President said the earmarking of appropriations for “selected local government units (LGUs)…may not be consistent with the objectives and prioritization of the Local Government Support Fund.”

“Accordingly, I hereby direct the DBM to issue the guidelines in the equal availment of the fund by LGUs. Indeed, national government support ought to be responsive to the actual requirements of LGUs in the interest of genuine local development,” he said.

Abad said no such guidelines have been issued. Mayor Estrada had welcomed the P100-million financial assistance extended to Manila by his son, saying the city could use it to pay off some debt. He said his son was trying to help the city, not its mayor.  

Again, ‘selective justice’

From his detention cell, Estrada issued a statement denouncing Malacañang’s decision to impound his realigned pork funds as another case of “selective justice.”

“Why did they not release it? These were approved by the bicameral conference committee last year. Why do I even need to put out a special request for the release of the funds?” Estrada said.

He lamented that the constituents of Manila, Caloocan City and Lla-lo town in Cagayan would bear the brunt of the DBM’s move because the three LGUs have already lined up projects for funding.

“The (DBM) move will definitely affect the three beneficiaries,” he said.

Estrada said he wants to know how the DBM intends to use the impounded funds.

Estrada is detained at Camp Crame for the non-bailable charge of plunder in relation to pork barrel fund scam.

The office of Binay has not issued a statement on Malacañang’s move. – Christina Mendez