What PDAF? 67% of Filipinos say they did not benefit from ‘pork’

MANILA, Philippines—Almost 7 out of 10 Filipinos said their community did not benefit from projects funded by the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), according to a recent poll by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The SWS survey, conducted September 20 to 23, asked 1,200 respondents if their locality benefited from any project funded by a congressman’s PDAF and if they think the official benefited financially from the project. It also asked the respondents how much of the funds were wasted due to corruption in the implementation of any project.

A total of 67 percent of the respondents said PDAF did not benefit their area while 32 percent claimed it did. The remaining one percent said they did not know.

Meanwhile, Filipinos were split on whether Congress members benefited financially from the projects: 54 percent said no, 42 percent said yes and four percent said they did not know.

However, three out of five or 60 percent believed that “a lot” of public funds were lost to corruption in the implementation of any project. Twenty-four percent said “somewhat a lot” and 10 percent said “a little” was wasted to corruption. Only five percent said politicians did not pocket the funds while one percent said they did not know.

More people in Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon said they did not benefit from PDAF projects. On the other hand, 50 percent from both Visayas and Mindanao believed that congressmen received kickbacks from the projects.

While 72 percent of those from the National Capital Region said “a lot” was lost to corruption, only 54 percent said the same in Visayas. Nevertheless, majority of respondents in all areas agreed that their communities did not benefit from PDAF and that officials pocketed hefty sum of public funds.

More than a week ago, an SWS poll revealed a 15-point drop in President Benigno Aquino III’s satisfaction rating. It coincided with Pulse Asia’s survey which said 45 percent of Filipinos wanted PDAF abolished and money diverted to agencies for programs that will benefit the people.

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