Only the climate
is changing

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III 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

While people in most parts of the world and their economies are reeling from the effects of the recent financial crisis, our own lawmakers are trying all kinds of persuasions in order to make sure that they continue to receive the very questionable pork barrel that many consider as one of the reasons why our country has become so impoverished.

Sometime during recent months, criticisms have arisen over the practice of allotting so many millions to the members of Congress. The amount that goes to them is not inconsequential – congressmen receive no less than P70 million per annum, while senators get P200 million. These amounts are separate from the regular salaries they receive, and what is worse, they can do with the money as they wish since they are not required to account for it, or be audited on their expenses, unlike other government officials.

Try computing how much the congressman, or senator from your province – if there is one – must have received, especially if he or she had served the full three terms or nine years allowed under our election laws. Do you believe that if each of them would suddenly be required to submit reports or records on how they had used such funds, they can all account for every centavo, as all other government officials do?

And, can each of them point to the projects and improvements, the costs of which are commensurate to the amount they received?

And here they are, maneuvering to INCREASE the pork barrel amounts they expect to get this year! And, as reported in the national media, our lawmakers are now frantically trying to rush the approval of the 2010 General Appropriations Act, better known as the budget, before the end of this year, because it will include the increased amount of the pork they expect to receive.

Such mentality only underscores the callousness of many of our solons. One would think that they themselves would volunteer to reduce, or even scrap outright the release of that money to them and instead earmark it to address the big problems of the country, such as the plight of those affected by recent calamities, for which they had pretended to have bleeding hearts when they occurred.

The world may be concerned over climate change, but one thing that remains the same is this deplorable attitude in our lawmakers, with few exceptions.*