Reps getting pork are all close to Speaker Arroyo, says Lacson
The plenary hall of the House of Representatives. (Photo from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — House representatives whose districts got pork insertions have one common denominator: They’re all close to Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson said this over an interview with AM radio statio DZBB on Sunday as he bared more districts that received pork barrel insertions in the proposed P3.757-trillion national budget for 2019.
“Ang pattern, makikita mo: Pagka na-identify mo kung sino ‘yung congressman dun sa mga districts na medyo malalaki, biglang lumobo, isa lang ang common denominator — malapit kay Speaker,” Lacson said. “Yun ang common denominator: Malalapit sila sa Speaker.”
[You can see the patters: If you identify the congressmen in the districts where the funding becomes inflated, there’s one common denominator: They’re close to the Speaker.]
Lacson disclosed that he discovered more districts that received pork allocations — namely districts in Bohol and Surigao and other parts of the Visayas and Mindanao.
“District sa Bohol. May distrito sa Surigao. Itong isang distrito sa Mindanao. Halos so far ang nakikita namin, kulang-kulang dalawang billion, isang 1.5 billion. Tapos meron pang ano… yung isang distrito sa Visayas halos ganon din, papalo siya ng isang billion,” he said.
[A district in Bohol. There’s a district in Surigao. There’s one district in Mindanao. So far we could see more or less a billion, another 1.5 billion. Then there’s one district that’s almost the same, reaching up to a billion.”
The senator said, however, that he could not reveal the names of lawmakers involved in the pork insertions. He could only identify the districts that received them.
“Ang pwede ko lang i-identify na sigurado ako, yung distrito, kasi nasa budget eh. Di naman nakalagay kung sinong gumawa ng insertion eh. Ngayon, bahala na lang kayo magkaroon ng conclusion,” he said.
[I can only identify the districts that I’m sure of, because they’re in the budget. But it’s not specified who made the insertion. So it’s up to you to make your own conclusion.]
Earlier, the senator revealed that after last-minute revisions of the national expenditure bill in the House of Representatives, Arroyo’s Pampanga district stood to get P2.4 billion worth of projects.
READ: Lacson: P2.4-B pork for Arroyo’s district
Meanwhile, P1.9 billion went to the Camarines Sur district of House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr., he noted. /atm
