13 senators back scrapping of ‘pork’ from 2014 budget
MANILA, Philippines – At least 13 senators have decided to totally abandon their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) known as “pork barrel” funds by requesting to have it removed from the proposed 2014 national budget.
Each senator is allotted P200-million PDAF every year while congressmen get P70-million each.
The latest batch of senators to join the bandwagon were Senators Teofisto Guingona III, Sergio Osmeña III, Cynthia Villar and Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan.
Nine others had earlier requested to delete their “pork” from next year’s national budget and they were Senate President Franklin Drilon, Senators Francis “Chiz” Escudero, Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, Grace Poe, Bam, Aquino, Nancy Binay, Loren Legarda, Vicente “Tito” Sotto III and Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara.
Senator Ferdinand “Bong-Bong” Marcos Jr also gave up his PDAF “pork” next year but did not say whether he also like it deleted from the proposed budget or whether he would re-align it for other services.
“I told the Senate finance committee, in a letter to its chairman, Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, that I don’t intend to avail of my P200 million allocation in the 2014 General Appropriations Bill,” Marcos said in a statement on Monday.
“I do this so that it is clear to the public that there cannot be any wrongdoings in the use of my PDAF or allocation.”
“This reiterates my consistent position from the very start for the abolition of the PDAF. I hope this will put an end to the suspicion that I have misused my allocation,” added Marcos, who was among those dragged into the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam.
In separate letters to Escudero, Honasan, Guingona, Osmeña and Villar, formally informed Escudero’s committee that they were giving up their “pork” next year.
“Consistent with my position to have the Priority Development Assistance Fund abolished, I am formally manifesting my intention to remove my 2014 PDAF,” Guingona said in his letter dated November 11.
“Consequently, the amount of P200 million should be deducted from next year’s General Appropriations Act thereby decreasing the budget deficit,” he said.
Honasan also wrote Escudero on Monday to “formally state my position for the absolute and unconditional abolition of the PDAF without realignment.”
Osmeña, in his letter to Escudero last November 7, said he was giving up his congressional allocation for 2013 and 2014 amounting to P400 million.
“Please be informed that I am foregoing the (P200 million) Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) allocated to me as a member of the Senate for 2013. I am also foregoing my Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) for 2014,” Osmeña said.
Villar, meanwhile, specifically requested the committee to deduct her P200-million PDAF from the proposed 2014 national budget.
“In brief, I would like to state that I am resolutely proposing to deduct the aggregate amount of P200 million from the 2014 General Appropriations Bill perceived to be ‘pork barrel’ allocation to my office,” she said in her letter also dated November 7.
Angara had earlier announced his decision to abandon his PDAF but formally informed the committee only this Monday.
“Consistent with Senate Resolution No 202, which I filed on August 26, 2013, calling for the abolition of the PDAF for senators, I hereby request that House Bill No. 2630 (FY 2014 General Appropriations Bill) be amended by deleting my PDAF allocation in the amount of P200 million from the budgets of the relevant government agencies, and reducing the total amount of the proposed 2014 national budget by said amount of P200 million” Angara said in his letter.
“I hope that the P200 million that will be saved from the 2014 national budget can be used to increase the education budget in the 2015 general appropriations bill,” he added.
Sotto, in his letter to Escudero last November 6, reiterated his position that “I am foregoing my PDAF allocation for the remaining years of my term as senator of the republic,” he said.
Meanwhile, three senators–Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Alan Peter Cayetano and Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV–have requested to use their PDAF in 2014 for either calamity and contingent funds or other services.
Santiago wrote a letter to the finance committee on Monday, saying that she was “opposed to any ‘pork barrel’ in any manner, shape, form, or under any name.”
But instead of deducting the PDAF from the 2014 budget, Santiago proposed that the entire “pork” allocation amounting to about P25 billion be used for calamity and contingent funds.
She said she would not also waive her right to inquire into past disbursements of the PDAF and the DAP (Disbursement Acceleration Program).
“I shall insist on providing the public with information about release of any “secret” pork barrel to senators such as the DAP. I shall insist on the principle of equal distribution of any “secret” pork barrel, if any shall be conceived by Senate leaders,” she said.
“If some senators shall get more funds than others, I shall inquire what criteria are used, and if these criteria are constitutional,” Santiago added.
Cayetano also preferred that the entire “pork” of the senators amounting to P4.8 billion be realigned to the calamity fund “for the specific purpose of rehabilitation of areas beset by calamities in 2013.”
In his letter also on Monday, Cayetano urged the finance committee to clarify and explain to the public that the abolition of the pork barrel was “not as simple as removing the same from the budget.”
“I strongly believe that it is our duty to explain that what we must abolish is the system that gives individual legislators the discretion and authority over lump sum amounts but this does not mean that we will deprive our people of the much needed funds for programs and services especially those that will assist our people who have been ravaged by recent calamities and man-made disasters,” he said.
Meanwhile, Trillanes IV said he would realign his PDAF to fund scholarship program in different colleges and states. Universities, medical assistance in government hospitals, and construction of barracks of soldiers and policemen.
“I could have opted to join the bandwagon of deleting the P200 million from the budget but this will be an afterthought and will not achieve anything aside from trying to look good in the media “Worse, it will show utter insensitivity to the needs of the poor and the marginalized sector,” Trillanes said in a statement.
“Besides, public outrage is directed to those who stole from the public funds whereas, I have been transparent on where I allocated my previous PDAF, which posted on my website (https://www.trillanes.com.ph): and based on the monitoring and evaluation of my office, our countrymen have greatly benefited from it,” he added.
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