BAYAN MUNA Rep. Neri J. Colmenares today said that even with Pres. Benigno Aquino III order to suspend the priority development assistance fund (PDAF), the pork barrel system is inherently anomalous not only because it is a source of graft and corruption but also because it uses public funds to favor political allies or threaten the opposition in congress. Its mere suspension or restriction won’t clean it.
The president just wants to douse water on the people’s growing clamor for the pork barrel system to be abolished. There is no justification for it whatsoever and the suspension is an attempt to save the pork barrel system. Pres. Aquino should abolish pork, including his own which currently amounts to hundreds of billions including the Malampaya Fund and channel it all directly to social services. Unjustified lump sum amounts must be abolished from the budget.
Colmenares also dismissed talks of stricter regulations of pork disbursements as useless and nothing more than insidious attempts to perpetuate and salvage the graft ridden pork barrel system. “We will join the people in the August 26 rally which will serve as an opening salvo for bigger rallies, to deliver that fatal blow against both the congressional and presidential pork once and for all” he said.
“Pres. Aquino either misses the point or just doesn’t want to follow his “boss” the Filipino people. Pork barrel by nature is a lump sum amount which is used for patronage politics because, not only the amount but also the selection of the projects and its beneficiaries rests on the approval of one person. A presidential pork, like the Malampaya Fund, is inherently anomalous because (1) it is a source of graft and corruption; (2) it is used to favor allies by adding to their already bloated pork barrels giving these lucky officials electoral advantage; and (3) it violates the required collective and deliberative process of budgeting public funds, diverting these funds to unnecessary whimsical projects of just an individual,” explained Colmenares.
“The P 900 million Malampaya funds coursed through the DAR for ghost beneficiaries recently unearthed in the current pork barrel scandal is an example of the blatant corruption with which pork barrel is vulnerable to. The unexplained P2.14 Billion surprisingly given to the PNP in 2009 for “disaster preparedness” is at the very least highly irregular,” he added.
“Even if no corruption takes place, pork is still inherently anomalous because it is used in patronage politics. The 138 SARO’s giving P8.6 billion again from the Malampaya fund in 2009 to certain lucky districts through the DPWH is an example of this anomalous patronage politics,” Colmenares added.
“There is no explanation why some districts got P 15 million, many got P40 million while some got more than P 200 million. DPWH SARO 09-09492 amounting to P500 million was given to a luckier district. Since there are more than 138 districts in the country, there were unlucky districts that were not favored by the presidential pork,” he said.
Colmenares further explained why pork is inherently anomalous. “The budget is supposedly a group output because it comes from the submission of government offices of their needs and deliberated by Congress to decide how much amount goes to which project of certain agencies. But in the end, millions or even billions of pork barrel may be arbitrarily spent to deodorize trash, build waiting sheds or similar whims, thereby negating the much ballyhooed “zero” or needs based budget of the Aquino administration,”
Pork is not an equalizer and anomalies cannot be regulated or restricted
“No amount of strict regulation or restrictions can stop these anomalies and all these talks about stricter monitoring is just a scheme to perpetuate this anomalous system. These did not work before, these will not work now. The pork barrel system must go and it must go now” declared Rep. Colmenares.
“Pres. Aquino is certainly not following the wishes of his “boss”, the Filipino people, when he supported the pork barrel system calling it an “equalizer”. It is in fact the great “un-equalizer” because it is enjoyed, not by everyone, but only by favored allies of the pork holder” said Colmenares.
“But of course, Pres. Aquino cannot let go of the pork barrel system despite the outrage of the people because he also wants to maintain his P132 billion Malampaya fund and other presidential pork barrel. Since there will be no support from Malacanang and Congress, we are asking for the people’s support for the approval of House Bill 1535 which seeks to abolish the pork barrel system. We are calling on our countrymen to organize anti-pork barrel groups and networks to deliver the fatal blow ‘para matigil na ang sistemang ito ng pambababoy sa pondo ng bayan,” Colmenares said.
We will join the people in the August 26 rally which should serve as an opening salvo for bigger rallies, he said.
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