PNoy and PDAF: False positive

At approximately 9 a.m. today, ordinary Filipinos will begin to converge in response to a call made by netizens to gather one million marchers at the Luneta in protest of the Pork Barrel fund anomalies. They will come together with a common thread, to call for the abolition of the Pork barrel system.

Apparently, the PNoy administration, as well as political spin masters are concerned about the March. It would be safe to assume that certain politicians are also nervous how this social media instigated movement could duplicate the Arab Spring Uprisings. Quite honestly, the best thing they could have done was to let people have their day and have their say. Instead there is a clear move to associate the 1 Million March with leftist organizations, Faceless destabilizers, claims that “the march was being funded by ex-First Gentleman Mike Arroyo” and yesterday even dragging Vice President Binay into the scandal for having his own Pork barrel. All this is clearly meant to discourage, distract, divide and weaken the impact of the gathering.  Like I said in Facebook, whether one Filipino shows up or One Million Filipinos go on the march, today is only about one thing: End the Pork barrel System NOW!

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In a complete about face, several Senators who were previously very supportive of retaining the PDAF or Pork Barrel fund are now publicizing their support for the abolition of the fund. They obviously believe in the saying: “A fool is he who tries to hold on to what he cannot keep”. A couple of legislators have even said that they were willing to be investigated and if found guilty, prosecuted with the full force of the law.

What these hypocrites conveniently forgot to mention in their Praise releases is that they are immune from suit or prosecution. If they really believe in their honesty and integrity as well as innocence in the Pork barrel scam, then they should all waive their immunity from suit! Then we know who’s a pig and who’s an honorable lawmaker.

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Like a misread pregnancy test or lab report on cancer, PNoy’s announcement regarding the supposed abolition of the Pork Barrel fund or PDAF turns out to be False Positive. Just when you think the President is finally on the people’s side, PNoy succumbs to the demands of political practicality rather than political will and executive skills. It was like caving in to the will of the people and then doing a silent retraction to please the members of Congress.

To be fair to the President, he may not hold all the cards on this deal. This was made perfectly clear as he held his one-man press conference while the Senate President and the Speaker of the House stood behind him as if to symbolize that this was a three-way deal or compromise.

His sudden and obvious attempt to chill the angry mob was a perfect application of the modern political theory from the famous thinker and cartoon character Garfield the Cat who said: “If you can’t convince them, confuse them”. This was clear as the President opened with lines; the time has come to end the pork barrel. For added effect he then skewered the political pigs that fed and stole from them and then slyly shifted into a gentle reverse by promoting the new and improved version of the same irregular, if not anomalous practice that allows legislators to once again influence development projects in their districts or around the country for their political glory, dynastic plans, if not indirect financial gain.

The President even defended his position through examples where pork barrel funds were properly used in situations where there were no official appropriations or where funds had run out due to calamities or unplanned, unexpected necessities. In an apparent attempt to invest some of his own goodwill and perceived integrity, PNoy even mentioned how his judicious use of pork barrel funds as a Congressman helped repair local infrastructure of national use in the province of Tarlac. Like a product endorser, the President must have been hoping that his goodwill and integrity would somehow convince and reassure the public that the new and improved version would be better and more beneficial.

Unfortunately the President’s examples of the good and practical uses of pork barrel funds are few in comparison to the historical and factual abuse and thievery that it has been subjected too. The best way to illustrate this would be to compare the percentage of “systems losses” computed by the various utilities companies versus the financial losses that has gone unreported by the Senate and the House of Representatives. Any CEO would tell the President that the systems losses from the pork barrel system whether based on percentage or total losses would bankrupt any company! The estimated losses of 40% would sink any corporation on the planet.

Aside from the monetary losses and misuse of the PDAF or the pork barrel, one of the strongest arguments against it is the fact that the pork barrel has incentivized or funded the emergence and propagation of political dynasties. More incompetent and corrupt people and their family members are motivated to get into public office and to stay there even at the cost of killing political opponents because the money to be made is bigger than any bounty hunter could ever make for a living.

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Since the President has taken a position on the PDAF, now might be a good time for PNoy and DILG Secretary Mar Roxas to scrutinize budgets and lump sum appropriations and expenditures of local governments. If the public is shocked with the abuse of the PDAF, I am sure that people will be more shocked about how much money goes to Mayors, Barangay Captains and SK heads and how much corruption there is at those levels. These should be the next target of the media and the public because there is even less accountability and greater abuse at local government levels.

While they’re at it, people should now question and demand that “Intelligence Funds” be limited to departments, bureaus and offices that really need to and actually does intelligence funds. The category or classification of “intelligence fund” is probably one of the biggest lies and loopholes that government officials use to avoid accounting as well as accountability. If Agent 007 is “Licensed to Kill”, “Intelligence Funds” has become “License to Steal”.

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