Baguio solon raises need for 'pork'

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – Baguio Rep. Nicasio Aliping, Jr. still sees the need for 'pork,' saying it is a legislator’s tool for social responsibility.

Aliping said he intends to use his P70-million share in the Priority Development Assitance Fund (PDAF) for the rehabilitation of the Baguio Athletic Bowl, Baguio Convention Center and to the Baguio airport, all in a bad state already. Aliping said pork is not at all bad; t only needs some transparency when allocating and using it.

Aliping, a neophyte congressman, said projects coming from pork allocations should undergo scrutiny by the people.

But former youth Rep. Edgar Avila from the 8th and 9th Congress said it is about time that the PDAF is abolished because it has not served its purpose, while former Rep. Bernardo Vergara who lost to Aliping in the May 2013 polls believes those in the upper chamber of Congress should lose their PDAF.  

“Because they have no constituencies unlike congressmen who have direct congressional districts to assist and fund,” he said.