Pulse Asia: 54% unaware of lawmakers’ projects

Over half of adult Filipinos are not aware of any project or program by a lawmaker in their respective districts over the past six years, while three in every four believe that at least half of the budget for the project goes to corruption, according to a Pulse Asia Research Inc. survey.

Despite these, one in every four Filipinos said lawmakers should give importance to having projects and programs for their constituents.

The survey was conducted nationwide from Sept. 14 to 27 in the wake of a P10-billion pork barrel scam allegedly masterminded by Janet Lim-Napoles.

It found that 54 percent of the respondents did not know of any project or program implemented by a senator or their representative in their place in the last six years.

This figure was higher than the 43 percent recorded in October 2004, the last time Pulse Asia conducted a similar survey.

Whistle-blowers told a Senate blue ribbon committee hearing last month that legislators involved in the pork scam-funded ghost projects. Fifty percent of the supposed cost of the project went to the lawmakers, 40 percent to Napoles, and 10 percent to government conduits.

Thirty-nine percent of the respondents said they were aware of the projects of lawmakers, down from 52 percent in 2004. Seven percent could not say whether such projects or programs were implemented, up from 5 percent nine years ago.

Across geographic areas and socioeconomic classes, lack of awareness of a lawmaker’s project or program ranged from 46 percent to 64 percent.

The survey showed that 77 percent of the respondents said at least half of the money allocated for a project or program of a lawmaker was lost to corruption.

Of this figure, 30 percent said half of the budget went to corruption, 27 percent said more than half of the budget went to corruption, and 20 percent said almost the whole budget went to corruption.

Between October 2004 and September 2013, those who said that almost all of the budget went to corruption increased from 11 percent to 20 percent and those who said that more than half of the budget went to corruption rose from 22 percent to 27 percent.

According to Pulse Asia, 17 percent of the respondents said less than half of the budget was lost to corruption, while 6 percent said hardly any of the funds went to corruption. These figures were basically the same as those in 2004.

Legislator’s task

Asked what duties lawmakers should prioritize, 42 percent said implementing projects and programs for their constituents. Thirty-two percent said making laws; 14 percent, investigating scandals and other issues; and 12 percent, reviewing and passing the annual budget.

The survey used face-to-face interviews with 1,200 respondents aged 18 and above who were randomly selected across the country. It had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points for national percentages and plus-or-minus 6 percentage points for regional percentages.—Inquirer Research

Originally posted: 7:55 pm | Monday, October 21st, 2013