Binay to review Supreme Court scrapping of pork barrel
Vice President Jejomar Binay on Monday vowed to revisit the Supreme Court decision which scrapped the pork barrel system following a corruption scandal.
During his speech at the National Unity Party (NUP) convention, Binay said he would push for a committee to find ways for congressmen/women to still help their constituents now that the congressional pork the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) had been scrapped.
“Dahil sa PDAF na dineclare na unconstitutional, yun pong members ng Congress hindi po agad makapagbigay ng tulong sa mga nasasakupan nila.. I will have to create a committee na pag-aaralan kung paano naman makakatulong ang mga members kapag may mangyayaring kalamidad,” Binay said.
“I think we have to research kung hanggang saan pa po ang effects ng unconstitutional na decision ng courts of the Supreme Court. Uulitin ko, marami hong nagsasabi na kami ay walang magawa kaagad. Ang nangyayari pa, yung mga dapat tumulong ay bago makatulong, kailangan pa i-approve. Ito ho ang malungkot na karanasan natin,” Binay added.
The PDAF was junked by the Supreme Court following the public outrage over the alleged corruption of converting the congressional pork to ghost projects for kickbacks under the purported scheme of mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.
Plunder and graft charges have been filed resulting in the detention of three senators – Senators Ramon Revilla Jr., Juan Ponce Enrile (who is out on bail), and Jinggoy Estrada – and two former congressmen – Rep. Rizalina Lanete and Edgar Valdez – in connection with the scam.
Enrile and Estrada are key allies of Binay.
In an ambush interview after his speech, Binay said there was a need to review the Supreme Court decision scrapping pork so that politicians may still aid their constituents, especially during emergencies and calamities.
“Meron namang kasing distinguish dyan na hard and soft projects. ‘Yung kasing definition na yan sa PDAF kailangang mai-klaro. We will try to revisit that definition of the Supreme Court para maibalik uli yung agarang pagtulong sa members ng Congress,” Binay said.
He clarified however that he does not intend to revive the pork barrel system.
‘Yung PDAF bawal na po … We’ll have to consider the pronouncements of the Supreme Court that by itself it is unconstitutional… Tingnan natin, we’ll have to make a legal study,” Binay said.
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