Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. File Photo
MANILA, Philippines—After President Benigno Aquino III directed Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. to assess the removal of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), members of the Liberal Party decided on Monday to eliminate the P25.24 billion lump sum allocation for the much-debated “pork barrel.”
In a weekly caucus presided by Belmonte Monday morning, the over 100 party members in the House of Representatives agreed to remove the P25.24-billion lump sum appropriation for the discretionary fund.
On August 23, the President announced that it was high time to abolish the PDAF amid the widespread public outrage triggered by its misuse.
The Commission on Audit (COA) earlier reported that out of the 82 questionable nongovernment organizations that were made conduits of PDAF for purportedly non-existent or ‘ghost’ projects by some legislators, 10 were allegedly owned by the businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.
Napoles is now detained at Fort Sto. Domingo in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, facing charges over the kidnapping of Benhur Luy, her first cousin and princiapl whistle-blower in the pork barrel scam.
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