Controlling the pork

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor CHERYL CRUZ Desk Editor PATRICK PANGILINAN Busines Editor NIDA A. BUENAFE Sports Editor RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

Malacañang has recently clarified that lawmakers in the House of Representatives, whether from the majority coalition or the minority bloc, should not feel offended if the pork barrel funds for their districts are no longer released to them directly. Palace spokespeople have reminded congressmen that their job is to craft laws and identify projects that they want implemented in their districts. This means that it is not necessary for House members from both sides of the political fence to handle the priority assistance development fund (PDAF), otherwise known as the pork barrel.

The Palace explanation to accusations by the opposition that the current administration has been depriving them of their beloved pork barrel funds is that it is their policy to release the PDAF directly to the districts’ local government unit official, after those projects have been identified by their representatives in Congress.

While the constituents who are supposed to directly benefit from the projects do not mind how the funds are actually disbursed, this new system should be unacceptable for the legislators who have become so used to handling millions of pesos in pork barrel funds that they didn’t even have to account for such that many treat the money as their own. For one, they can no longer take sole credit for the projects that are actually funded by taxpayer’s money. Secondly, and probably more important, is that when the government gives the funds directly to the LGUs, there are members of Congress who know that their secret bank accounts will be severely affected once they are taken out of their prominent position in the kickback loop.

If this new policy with regards to the odious but apparently indispensable, pork barrel system can reduce opportunities for corruption while maximizing the benefits of the PDAF projects that have been identified by the representatives of the different congressional districts all over the country, then we are all for it. The most important thing here is that the policy is applied fairly and without discrimination to all members of the House, regardless of political affiliation. If it is applied selectively and only the allies of the administration are given the opportunity to enrich themselves and consolidate their power through the pork barrel the way scrupulous congressmen have doing been for ages, then, whatever noble purpose this new policy is supposed to serve, will be overshadowed by a vindictiveness that certainly should not be a part of PNoy’s so-called “Daang Matuwid”.*