House minority leaders: Senator Lacson’s fears on pork barrel ‘unfounded’
Leaders of the House minority bloc criticized Senator Panfilo Lacson after he warned of a possible return of the “happy pork barrel days” of legislators.
Newly-installed Minority Leader Danilo Suarez said the fears being raised by Lacson were “unfounded.”
“We are always guided by the Supreme Court decision and we will make sure that we comply with the High Court’s ruling,” Suarez said.
On the other hand, Senior Deputy Minority Leader Lito Atienza defended the district representatives’ congressional district allocations.
“Lacson seems to know all kinds of pork. But pork is not bad except those full of cholesterol and those that went to the hands of Mrs. Napoles. There is nothing wrong with congressmen asking for equal development for their respective districts. That’s their job,” Atienza said in a statement, referring to alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles.
What is unacceptable is the kind of allocation done during the years of Napoles, Atienza said.
Instead of pointing to the House of Representatives, Atienza said Lacson “should ask his allies and colleagues in the Senate how they benefited from pork during the time of Napoles.”
Earlier, Lacson said that if left unchecked, “we will be back to the happy pork barrel days of legislators.”
READ: Lacson fears return of ‘happy pork days’ under Arroyo
The senator also said he expects “massive mangling” of the National Expenditure Program under Arroyo’s watch, despite her assurance that all lawmakers, ally or not, would receive congressional allocations.
On Thursday, the senator insisted on his claim, saying that any allocation given directly to congressional districts or congressmen is “pork.”
READ: Budget given straight to congressional districts is ‘pork’ – Lacson
In 2013, the high court declared the “pork barrel” or the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) as unconstitutional. /vvp
READ: SC declares PDAF unconstitutional
