1 in 2 Filipinos in Metro Manila want ‘pork’ abolished, says survey

MANILA, Philippines – One out of two Filipinos residing in Metro Manila want the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of lawmakers abolished, according to Pulse Asia’s latest survey on the pork barrel issue.

The survey, involving 1,200 respondents and conducted from September 14 to 27, revealed that 45 percent of Filipinos wanted the discretionary fund abolished and the money diverted to agencies for programs that will benefit the people.

Of this number, the percentage was highest in Metro Manila where 56 percent wanted PDAF removed, followed by 47 percent in the Visayas and 45 percent in the rest of Luzon.

“In Mindanao, public opinion is split with 38 percent favoring the abolition of lawmakers’ PDAF, 27 percent supporting the retention of the PDAF but making the process of using it stricter and 26 percent opting for the reduction of the PDAF allocations of lawmakers,” Pulse Asia said in a statement Monday.

This is as opposed to the other areas where more people wanted the PDAF removed, followed by those who want it reduced and others who wanted it retained with stricter regulation.

Nationwide, those who want the PDAF maintained are at a minority of 10 percent.

Pulse Asia also noted that awareness of the pork barrel issue is very high with nine out of 10 Filipinos having heard, read or watched something about it. The number is almost the same or close to 90 percent across geographic areas and socio-economic classes. This is a jump from the 66 percent awareness recorded in October 2004.

Among the socioeconomic classes, 98 percent of those from class A, B and C said they were familiar with the issue.

“On the use of the PDAF, about the same percentage of Filipinos says either that it is used by politicians to get elected (32 percent) or it provides lawmakers with opportunities to receive bribes and commissions (27 percent),” the survey said.

In Visayas, 41 percent believe that the pork barrel is being used by officials for the elections.

While 63 percent of Filipinos approve of President Benigno Aquino III’s response to the PDAF controversy, 67 percent also believe that anomalies continued under his administration.

Pulse Asia said the face-to-face interviews with respondents coincided with the Senate investigation on the so-called “P10 billion pork barrel scam,” the filing of plunder and graft cases against Janet Lim-Napoles and several lawmakers, Senator Jinggoy Estrada’s privilege speech accusing senators of receiving incentives to impeach the former chief justice, and the filing of the P61-million tax evasion case against Napoles and her husband.