A group calling for the abolition of pork barrel of the president and lawmakers on Wednesday claimed President Benigno Simeon Aquino III is extremely obsessed to keep his pork barrel and will do anything, everything to ensure unlimited access to audit free state funds.
In a statement, the fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said President Aquino will use all state powers at his disposal to prevent the Filipino public from abolishing his pork barrel and the pork barrel allotted to lawmakers.
“The pork barrel system is the bread and butter of Mr. Aquino. It is also the basis of existence for hundreds of lawmakers and bureaucrat capitalists in and out of the ruling Aquino circle. The people’s collective interest put to task Aquino and the Philippine parliament to abolish pork barrel of the president and the legislators,” said Salvador France, vice chair of Pamalakaya.
France said he is very much puzzled why up to now the Commission on Audit has yet to produce a highly transparent report on how Aquino’s office used the presidential pork barrel over the last three years or from 2010 to 2012.
Pamalakaya’s France had previously requested COA to pursue a comprehensive audit of nearly 100 billion peso pork barrel Congress had allotted to the Office of the President since assumed office in June 30, 2010.
“In the name of truth, justice and public accountability, we hereby task the Office of the President to allow state auditors of COA to perform a honest-to-goodness audit of all the pork barrel granted to Aquino’s office since he assumed the presidency on June 30, 2010,” he said.
For a start, the Pamalakaya leader said Malacanang should give the go-signal for COA auditors to perform audit on the P 24.8 B pork barrel fund given to President Aquino in 2012.
“The Filipino public deserve the real score and President Aquino must submit himself to public inquiry,” said France.
Pamalakaya maintained that the the audit free policy on presidential pork barrel should be denounced and renounced. It said the audit free regime on presidential pork barrel is against public interest since an audit-free presidential pork barrel is not only prone to big time crime of corruption, but also give political and legal impunity to crimes of plunder and grand malversation of taxpayers’ money.
Malacanang has repeatedly rejected the demand for the abolition of the President’s Social Fund under the Office of the President. Palace officials argue that President Aquino will keep his pork barrel to finance Aquino special projects and concerns, including presidential budget for intelligence work.
“We are wondering why COA has yet to ask the Office of the President for a grand audit of the pork barrel of President Aquino. Until now, there is no report on how Mr. Aquino spent his PSF since he assumed the presidency in 2010.
While Mr. Aquino enjoys immunity from suit being the incumbent president, he is not immune to public scrutiny on how he use taxpayers’ money. Let us all be clear here and this should be clear to COA,” said Pamalakaya.
The group maintained that even an urban poor who pays P 3.60 expanded value added tax for every kilo of rice is entitled to a honest-to-goodness audit of the 24 billion peso pork barrel transferred to Aquino’s presidential account in 2012.
“The COA should establish how the President spent his pork last year and present a blakc and white accounting of public funds spent by the ruling political party in Malacanang,” said Pamalakaya.
Pamalakaya said PSF is one venue where the president and his allies can corrupt public funds since this kind of pork barrel is free from public scrutiny and government audit.
It said in 2010, during the Arroyo administration, the COA found out that some P 1.2 B from PSF was transferred to various NGOs and government agencies and irregularly reflected as donations, making it difficult for COA to establish accountability for the funds.
According to Pamalakaya, Aquino’s pork barrel in 2012 include the P2.695-billion in intelligence funds, of which, P666 million was earmarked for “National Security Monitoring including requirements for the Presidential Anti-Organized/Syndicated Crime and Transnational Crime Campaign, as well as P600,000,000 for confidential and intelligence expenses to be released upon approval of the President.
The group said in 2012, the Office of the President also sought P224.68 million budget for travel expenses alone. Pamalakaya said President Aquino exercises discretionary powers on the intelligence funds of the Office of the President, contingent funds, calamity funds and unprogrammed funds. About P 1 billion peso was given to President Aquino for contingent funds.
Pamalakaya said the contingent fund was administered by the Office of the President and used exclusively to fund the requirements of new and/or urgent projects and activities that need to be implemented during the year. This fund may be used to augment the existing appropriations for local and foreign travels of the President, but in no case shall it be used for the purchase of motor vehicles.”
The group said the Office of the President also received P14.2 billion for disaster management use, apart from entry from the calamity fund, which went up to P7.5 billion in 2012 from P5 billion in 2011.
“It is now time for Mr. Aquino to tell the truth and nothing but the truth on his pork barrel. No excuses will be accepted from him,” said Pamalakaya.
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