Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone (left) and Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali: Lift the TRO!
MANILA, Philippines—Once more with feeling.
The graft-ridden Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) may have been “abolished” at the committee level of the House of Representatives, but two key allies of President Aquino on Tuesday made one more pitch for the controversial lump sum appropriation, also known as pork barrel.
Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone and Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali want the Supreme Court to lift the temporary restraining order (TRO) on the PDAF so members of the House could get their remaining allocation this year.
Evardone cited the case of 248,072 “scholars” of at least 73 representatives, who would supposedly be unable to continue their studies unless the TRO was lifted.
“On humanitarian considerations, we would like to appeal to the Supreme Court to consider the situation of our constituents who depend on PDAF,” he said in a joint press conference with Umali.
Umali described the PDAF as “the only mechanism of government where each legislative district is assured of P70 million per annum.”
The amount is P210 million for the entire three-term of each House member, he pointed out.
“So to a certain extent, this is even an equalizer,” he said.
The high tribunal issued a TRO pending its ruling on petitions questioning the constitutionality of the PDAF.
The House committee on appropriations, of which Evardone is vice chair, earlier “abolished” P25.2 billion worth of PDAF in next year’s national budget.
Along with Vice President Jejomar Binay’s own P200-million pork barrel, the PDAF would be distributed among six government agencies. The Department of Public Works and Highways stands to get the biggest share of 35 percent.
Acknowledging complaints on the alleged misuse of the PDAF, Evardone said the remaining PDAF for 2013 could be limited to scholarships and medical assistance.
“No more NGOs (nongovernment organizations) and all possible leakage,” he added.
Umali said: “What’s bad is the PDAF is already condemned as bad pork.”