Gloria offers to share ‘pork’ with allies

Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has offered to share her pork barrel, or the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), with the 10 opposition House members who have not received their allocations to this date.

This was revealed by Minority Leader Edcel Lagman and Zambales Rep. Milagros Magsaysay in a press conference in which they said the 10, including Magsaysay herself, had not received the P35 million allocation for each district.

Arroyo, the country’s immediate past president, has offered to give P1 million each to the 10 from her share of the PDAF so they can continue to finance their student scholarship programs or projects, said Ms. Magsaysay.

Arroyo did not say whether the amount is to be returned to her once the 10 get their pork barrel allocations, Magsaysay said.

Aside from Magsaysay, those who have not received the third tranche of their PDAF are Arroyo’s two sons, Juan Miguel Arroyo of the Ang Galing Pinoy party-list group and Camarines Sur Rep. Diosdado Arroyo; and Representatives Ignacio Arroyo of Negros Occidental, Arthur Yap of Bohol, Augusto Syjuco of Iloilo, Danilo Suarez of Quezon, Ferdinand Martin Romualdez of Leyte, Marc Douglas Cagas of Davao del Sur and Amelita Calimbas-Villarosa of Occidental Mindoro.

Lagman said there was still no commitment from the House leadership as to when the 10 would get their PDAF.

“We were told that it’s forthcoming. I asked whether it will be forthcoming before the majority approves the proposed (2012) budget on second reading and apparently there is no commitment when they only say it’s forthcoming,” Lagman said.

Lagman suspects that the release of his and Arroyo’s PDAF ahead of other opposition congressmen was meant to “divide and rule” the opposition.

Lagman said he was not blaming Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. as Belmonte has been pressing for the release of all the PDAF shares to no avail.

“We don’t feel like beggars because we cannot beg for something our districts are entitled to. We ask this with ascendancy because we are members of the House and under the Constitution, the House is granted the power of the purse,” Lagman stressed.

On the transfer of four more opposition members to political parties allied with the majority coalition, Lagman stressed that this was not all because of the nonrelease of the PDAF.