A big protest, dubbed as the "Million People March" will be held Monday in Manila to pressure the Palace and Congress to abolish all forms of pork barrel funds.
!['Million People March' rally vs pork barrel set on Monday]( "'Million People March' rally vs pork barrel set on Monday")
The protest set at Luneta will express outrage at misuse of all lump-sum funds of government officials -- and not just legislators' Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), according to organizers and participants.
This, despite President Benigno Aquino's hastily called press conference Friday to announce the abolition of lawmakers' PDAF and replacement with another system.
Aquino was "pro-pork" in the past, but he changed his stand days before the "Million People March" protest.
Under Aquino's plan, lawmakers may still propose projects under a strict line-item budgeting and the funding will be part of the national budget.
He outlined seven measures that could be implemented as early as next year to help prevent the misuse of public funds.
Aquino's proposal, however, is not enough, according to those who will join the "Million People March" protest.
His plan also did not mention lump-sum funds under the direct control of the executive department.
'Pork' by any other name
Transparency and Accountability Network's Vincent Lazatin, in an interview with radio dzMM Friday, said pork barrel by any other name or form, is still pork barrel.
"Iyung ang ikinakatakot namin eh, same pig, but with a different collar," he said.
Pork barrel used to be called the "Countrywide Development Fund" (CDF) before it became PDAF.
Lazatin said the President should also abolish his own pork barrel funds.
"Ang pinaka-ugat ng problema na ito, sa tingin ko, iyung pork barrel kasi sa COA report, secondary corruption iyon. Iyung primary, influence ng executive sa legislature. Iyung ang ginagamit niya. Kung gusto niya ng batas, (pork barrel) ang gagamitin niya (for lawmakers) to obey, to toe the line," he added.
"That's the primary evil of the pork barrel," Lazatin said.
Former Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said it's unlikely the President will completely take away the funds of lawmakers.
"Hindi ko lang maintindihan kung bakit parang may takot pa siya. Parang feeling niya 'baka mai-impeach ako' o baka hindi niya mai-push ang mga gusto niya," Diokno said.
He added that although stricter guidelines in the release of public funds are steps in the right direction, they are still not enough.
"Hindi pa rin sapat eh. Ang galit ng tao... how about 'yung presidential pork? Iyung budget na iyun, kanya 'yun eh. Pork niya iyun, discretionary niya," he added.
'Pork' under direct Palace control
The Pagbabago! People's Movement led by Mother Mary John Mananzan, OSB, said in a press statement Friday that the new "pork" system proposed by Aquino will still breed graft and corruption.
"The disbursement of the fund is now at the mercy of the Executive, reverting to the old mechanism wherein the legislators would have to lobby to the Budget Department and the Office of the President for the incorporation of their pet projects in the National Expenditure Program submitted to Congress," the group said.
"It is modeled after the 'palakasan' system, and only the favored ones shall get served their the pork. The President ends up consolidating his hold on Congress and reinforcing the well-entrenched system of patronage politics," it added.
The group also said lump sum funds bigger than lawmakers' PDAF remain at the sole discretion of the Office of the President.
"(The Palace's lump sum funds) are similarly used for political patronage and are extremely susceptible to corruption of plunder proportions" it said.
Ricardo Reyes, president of the Freedom From Debt Coalition, also said in a statement Friday that Aquino's announcement falls short of the demand to abolish all forms of pork barrel.
"PNoy's policy declaration is double-edged. While he abolishes the PDAF, he only decries the abuses in the pork barrel institution which includes less visible forms of pork. More importantly, he still accommodates every congressman and senator to propose and therefore, horse-trade, on specific projects for specific districts or sectoral constituencies. The door thus remains open to pork," Reyes said.
"The hundreds of billions of pesos that have gone into the Congressional pork barrel should put to shame a government that has fallen so short of the necessary educational, health and housing services to our people and has been a failure in solving the scandalous poverty in our country," he added.
Effective reform
For reforms to be complete and effective, some congressmen said Friday that the so-called "Presidential pork" should also be removed.
At the Senate, most are supporting Aquino's new stand on pork barrel.
Among those supporting Aquino's plan are Senators Loren Legarda, Antonio Trillanes, Grace Poe, JV Ejercito, Bam Aquino, Koko Pimentel, Bongbong Marcos, and Ralph Recto.
Recto recommends that projects be included as a line item in the General Appropriations Act.
Earlier, Senators Miriam Defensor Santiago, Francis Escudero, and Alan Peter Cayetano also filed resolutions calling for PDAF abolition.
However, Senator Gringo Honasan is against the plan.
He said abolishing lawmakers' PDAF will only transfer power and corruption from Congress to the executive department.
Former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, meanwhile, who has denied channeling hundreds of millions of pesos from his pork barrel to fake nongovernment organizations, said pork barrel in all forms must be abolished.
He said the public's outrage is justified because of the P10-billion pork barrel scam involving Napoles and the COA's audit findings.
"But if it must be scrapped, the pork barrel system should be scrapped totally. We should not only look at scrapping the PDAF but include the various pork barrel or lump sum appropriations of all departments of government," he said.--Source: ABS-CBN News
The protest set at Luneta will express outrage at misuse of all lump-sum funds of government officials -- and not just legislators' Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), according to organizers and participants.
This, despite President Benigno Aquino's hastily called press conference Friday to announce the abolition of lawmakers' PDAF and replacement with another system.
Aquino was "pro-pork" in the past, but he changed his stand days before the "Million People March" protest.
Under Aquino's plan, lawmakers may still propose projects under a strict line-item budgeting and the funding will be part of the national budget.
He outlined seven measures that could be implemented as early as next year to help prevent the misuse of public funds.
Aquino's proposal, however, is not enough, according to those who will join the "Million People March" protest.
His plan also did not mention lump-sum funds under the direct control of the executive department.
'Pork' by any other name
Transparency and Accountability Network's Vincent Lazatin, in an interview with radio dzMM Friday, said pork barrel by any other name or form, is still pork barrel.
"Iyung ang ikinakatakot namin eh, same pig, but with a different collar," he said.
Pork barrel used to be called the "Countrywide Development Fund" (CDF) before it became PDAF.
Lazatin said the President should also abolish his own pork barrel funds.
"Ang pinaka-ugat ng problema na ito, sa tingin ko, iyung pork barrel kasi sa COA report, secondary corruption iyon. Iyung primary, influence ng executive sa legislature. Iyung ang ginagamit niya. Kung gusto niya ng batas, (pork barrel) ang gagamitin niya (for lawmakers) to obey, to toe the line," he added.
"That's the primary evil of the pork barrel," Lazatin said.
Former Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said it's unlikely the President will completely take away the funds of lawmakers.
"Hindi ko lang maintindihan kung bakit parang may takot pa siya. Parang feeling niya 'baka mai-impeach ako' o baka hindi niya mai-push ang mga gusto niya," Diokno said.
He added that although stricter guidelines in the release of public funds are steps in the right direction, they are still not enough.
"Hindi pa rin sapat eh. Ang galit ng tao... how about 'yung presidential pork? Iyung budget na iyun, kanya 'yun eh. Pork niya iyun, discretionary niya," he added.
'Pork' under direct Palace control
The Pagbabago! People's Movement led by Mother Mary John Mananzan, OSB, said in a press statement Friday that the new "pork" system proposed by Aquino will still breed graft and corruption.
"The disbursement of the fund is now at the mercy of the Executive, reverting to the old mechanism wherein the legislators would have to lobby to the Budget Department and the Office of the President for the incorporation of their pet projects in the National Expenditure Program submitted to Congress," the group said.
"It is modeled after the 'palakasan' system, and only the favored ones shall get served their the pork. The President ends up consolidating his hold on Congress and reinforcing the well-entrenched system of patronage politics," it added.
The group also said lump sum funds bigger than lawmakers' PDAF remain at the sole discretion of the Office of the President.
"(The Palace's lump sum funds) are similarly used for political patronage and are extremely susceptible to corruption of plunder proportions" it said.
Ricardo Reyes, president of the Freedom From Debt Coalition, also said in a statement Friday that Aquino's announcement falls short of the demand to abolish all forms of pork barrel.
"PNoy's policy declaration is double-edged. While he abolishes the PDAF, he only decries the abuses in the pork barrel institution which includes less visible forms of pork. More importantly, he still accommodates every congressman and senator to propose and therefore, horse-trade, on specific projects for specific districts or sectoral constituencies. The door thus remains open to pork," Reyes said.
"The hundreds of billions of pesos that have gone into the Congressional pork barrel should put to shame a government that has fallen so short of the necessary educational, health and housing services to our people and has been a failure in solving the scandalous poverty in our country," he added.
Effective reform
For reforms to be complete and effective, some congressmen said Friday that the so-called "Presidential pork" should also be removed.
At the Senate, most are supporting Aquino's new stand on pork barrel.
Among those supporting Aquino's plan are Senators Loren Legarda, Antonio Trillanes, Grace Poe, JV Ejercito, Bam Aquino, Koko Pimentel, Bongbong Marcos, and Ralph Recto.
Recto recommends that projects be included as a line item in the General Appropriations Act.
Earlier, Senators Miriam Defensor Santiago, Francis Escudero, and Alan Peter Cayetano also filed resolutions calling for PDAF abolition.
However, Senator Gringo Honasan is against the plan.
He said abolishing lawmakers' PDAF will only transfer power and corruption from Congress to the executive department.
Former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, meanwhile, who has denied channeling hundreds of millions of pesos from his pork barrel to fake nongovernment organizations, said pork barrel in all forms must be abolished.
He said the public's outrage is justified because of the P10-billion pork barrel scam involving Napoles and the COA's audit findings.
"But if it must be scrapped, the pork barrel system should be scrapped totally. We should not only look at scrapping the PDAF but include the various pork barrel or lump sum appropriations of all departments of government," he said.--Source: ABS-CBN News