PRESIDENT Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino’s refusal to scrap the controversial ‘pork barrel’ in the face of successive revelations of corruption under his administration have led the youth group Anakbayan today to declare him complicit in these scandals.
In the past month, scams related to the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF, more known as the pork barrel), Dept. of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Dept. of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) have been exposed, linking top officials of the Aquino administration.
Days before Aquino’s SONA, a whistle-blower revealed that Janet Lim-Napoles masterminded a scheme to channel at least P10 billion in PDAF to fictitious NGOs (non-government organizations). The monies were then withdrawn from the NGOs’ bank accounts and given personally to Napoles. The latest episode of this corruption saga has involved the name of current Agriculture Secretary Prospero Alcala, who has been accused of allowing the release of P16 million in Dept. of Agriculture funds to another Napoles NGO.
“When it comes to shaming corrupt officials in his SONA, or wrongly attributing corruption as the root of poverty, Noynoy can keep talking all day long. But now that his own Cabinet officials and allied lawmakers have been shown to be just as dirty, he is suddenly mute” noted Vencer Crisostomo, national chairperson of Anakbayan.
“With a new public scam being exposed every week, now should be the perfect time for Aquino to launch a tough campaign to clean up the government. Instead, he refuses to touch even the most obvious of all sources of corruption: the pork barrel” he added.
“Mark our words: no one will be prosecuted and punished for the misuse of billions of pesos in public funds. If ever, only a fall guy or two will be charged in court, and probably not even jailed. No ‘big fish’ will certainly be indicted,” the youth leader said.
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