Elderly activist nun calls for People’s Initiative to truly abolish ‘pork’
Sister Mary John Mananzan, 76, joined the Independence day protest rally at Liwasang Bonifacio Thursday to warn of hidden pork barrel. MATIKAS SANTOS/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—A senior citizen activist nun said that hidden pork barrel still exists and the only way to truly abolish it is through a people’s initiative.
“Even if government says there is no more Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and even if the Supreme Court has ruled it as unconstitutional, it is still there,” Sister Mary John Mananzan said during the Independence Day protest Thursday at the Liwasang Bonifacio.
“We need to see where the hidden pork [funds] are located. They have places where they hid it,” the 76-year-old nun said.
Mananzan, who arrived at the rally with NBN-ZTE whistleblower Jun Lozada, said that the proper way to abolish the pork barrel is through a People’s Initiative because Congress cannot be trusted in removing it completely.
She said she is working with the Scrap Pork Movement in organizing a people’s congress that will be held on August 24 which will finalize a bill that prohibits all forms of pork barrel or discretionary funds.
“The problem with our country is crime pays instead of crime does not pay. There should no longer be a culture of impunity,” she said.
“Nothing happens to criminals, nobody is punished that’s why corruption continues. Here in this protest rally, we are all calling to criminals to pay,” she said.
When she introduced herself on stage, she said that it looks like she is the second oldest in the entire rally next to former Bayan Muna Representative Satur Ocampo.
She added that she long been an activist even before the pork barrel scam was uncovered which drew cheers from the crowd.
“How did I get to be this old? It’s because I don’t eat pork!” she said amid applause.
In an ambush interview after her speech, she clarified that she does eat pork only occasionally but avoids it and other types of meat as much as possible.
“If I have a choice I don’t eat it, I don’t even eat meat if I have a choice,” she said.
On being an activist, she said that she has always been in solidarity with the poor and oppressed.
“I want to fight for their rights especially the workers, farmers, urban poor, women, indigenous people … and make sure they get the basic necessities,” Mananzan said.
“Is that too much to ask? It’s possible if there is no pork barrel, then all the funds could have gone to the basic necessities of the people,” she said.
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