Militant workers picket DBM, call Abad ‘bagman of pork’

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Manila, Philippines — Hours before the anti-pork barrel rally at Ayala, workers on Friday picketed outside the Department of Budget and Management main office in Manila to protest against  Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad and the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

“Bagman of pork barrel funds,” members of the militant labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno called Abad.

“Abad the pork bagman and holDAP (hold-up) implementor deserves the public’s strongest condemnation. The DAP does not have anything positive to it and could only be created with selfish and criminal objectives in mind,” KMU chairperson Elmer “Bong” Labog said in a statement.

The group held a short rally in front of the DBM building while carrying placards bearing Abad’s face.

Labog questioned the administration’s claim that the DAP was being used to stimulate economic growth, saying the “excuse runs counter to the government’s policy of handing out almost everything to big capitalists through privatization, deregulation and liberalization.”

He also said that the government, if it is sincere in improving the economy, should not have given politicians access to discretionary funds.

Labog said they will join the anti-pork barrel rally on Friday afternoon, together with their affiliate bank unions in Makati, to call for the investigation of the DAP and other lump sum funds.