The recently reported “shouting match” and “near fisticuffs” at the House of Representatives exposed what could be a “diabolical scheme” to resurrect the pork-barrel system, notwithstanding a Supreme Court decision declaring it unconstitutional.
The horrendous P51.79-billion appropriation embedded in the proposed 2019 Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) budget was, of course, for favored solons’ “pet projects.”
The list of projects included “multipurpose facilities,” flood control/drainage, national roads/bridges, local roads/bridges and water supply. The biggest shares were P10.3 billion for Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan), P9.2 billion for the Bicol Region, P5.4 billion for the Davao Region, P4.8 billion for Eastern Visayas, P4.6 billion for Caraga, P4.4 billion for Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), P4.1 billion for the Cordillera Administrative Region, while Central Luzon got only P3.4 billion. Metro Manila and Cagayan Valley were allotted P200 million each, while Soccsksargen would get a measly P70 million.
Looking at these enormous public funds, it is likely that had former House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez remained in power, this multibillion-peso funding would have muscled its way into approval surely, but discreetly.
The staggering amount prompted the convening of a committee of the whole on Tuesday to amend House Committee Report No. 854 authored by appropriations committee chair Karlo Nograles and to realign the funds.
Under the new proposal, P3 billion will go to the Department of Education for the construction of technical and vocational (tech-voc) laboratories; P5 billion will be allocated for farm-to-market roads under the Department of Agriculture; P1.2 billion will be earmarked for capital outlays for state universities and colleges; P6 billion will go to the Department of Health for human resources, health deployment and health facilities enhancement projects; and P5 billion will be allocated for the capital outlay of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
The rest of the realigned money will remain with the DPWH for the following projects: P10.8 billion for the construction/improvement of access roads leading to tourism destinations, P10.79 billion for the construction/improvement of access roads to “Trades, Industries, Economic Zones and Livelihood Centers” and P10 billion for the construction of roads and bridges to decongest traffic for a total of P31 billion. The House leadership said that the “line items” of these projects would be tackled in the budget deliberations. No pork barrel, they insisted.
But maybe, after careful “scrutiny” with some senators and due to “lack of time,” the budget will become a lump-sum appropriation and go to the DPWH engineering districts or project offices.
From there, the district engineers and agency heads will be “pressured” to choose some solons’ preferred contractors.
This practice is now clearly disallowed by the Supreme Court. Yet some lawmakers remain defiant, all in the name of pork.
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