Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Sen. Jinggoy Estrada was “reckless” in identifying Manila as a recipient of his 2014 pork barrel given his alleged involvement in a scam, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV said on Thursday.
Estrada has again come under the spotlight for realigning his P200 million in Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to three local government units (LGUs), including Manila where his father is the mayor.
The senator originally allotted the amount for hospitals, but changed his mind before the Senate and House panels met to reconcile their versions of the budget measure, Sen. Francis Escudero said.
Trillanes observed that there was a “problem” in Estrada’s realignment of his PDAF allocation to Manila—where his father, former President Joseph Estrada, is the mayor—Caloocan and a town in Cagayan.
Big problem
“That’s a big problem because he gave it to his father, and he’s being suspected of [taking kickbacks] from the PDAF,” Trillanes told reporters in a Quezon City restaurant.
He was referring to the alleged conversion of P10 billion in pork barrel of certain senators and House members into kickbacks that were split between alleged pork barrel queen Janet Lim-Napoles and the lawmakers.
Thick-faced
“He should have been more circumspect. He knew he was under fire, and yet he was still reckless in his allocation,” he said. “They’re facing a controversy and yet he still did that. Pakapalan na ng mukha ito (Talk about being thick-faced).”
Estrada last night bristled at Trillanes’ remarks, and cautioned his colleague against meddling with his affairs.
“I’m not meddling with his decisions. He shouldn’t meddle with mine,” Estrada said by phone. “What recklessness is he talking about? I can defend my actions.’’
Lawful
Estrada said that his decision to realign his PDAF to LGUs, including Manila, was lawful.
“I did not give the money to my father,” he said. “I have given it to the people of Manila, which has one of the highest incidences of poverty. What’s wrong with that?”
Trillanes made a distinction between the recipients of his PDAF such as hospitals, state universities and colleges, the military and police, and Estrada’s, saying these should not be lumped together.
“These are my advocacies,” he said.
Nine senators
Estrada was among nine senators who had their PDAF allocations realigned to other items in the P2.265-trillion budget for 2014, while 15 others had opted to have their allocations deleted after the Supreme Court ruled that the PDAF was unconstitutional.
In his case, Estrada allotted his PDAF as assistance to a local government unit, broken down into P100 million for Manila, and P50 million each for Caloocan City and for Lal-lo town in Cagayan province.
Escudero, chair of the finance committee, told reporters that Estrada had originally manifested to have his PDAF realigned “mostly” to hospitals in the Senate version of the budget measure.
But Estrada amended this to its current form before the Senate and House panels met in the bicameral conference committee to reconcile their budget versions, he added.
Escudero recalled telling Estrada that his move might be questioned, but the latter justified it by saying that the local government units, especially Manila, which the elder Estrada had declared “bankrupt,” needed the money.
Senators’ agreement
The chair of the Senate finance committee said he deferred to Estrada’s decision in keeping with the senators’ agreement in a caucus to respect one another’s disposition of the PDAF in the 2014 budget.
Escudero earlier defended the senators’ right to introduce amendments to the budget, saying that Estrada’s move did not violate the Supreme Court decision striking down the 2013 PDAF as unconstitutional.
Can be withheld
Escudero said President Aquino could withhold the release of the fund to the three LGUs.
“Under PD 1177, the President has the power which fund can be granted. Given a deficit which is projected to be P266 billion, the provisions will come into play which items to fund, or not to fund,” he said.
Santiago letter
Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, meanwhile, said that while her PDAF allocation was set aside for the calamity fund, she had advocated the abolition of the PDAF.
In a letter to Inquirer editors, echoing her statement to Escudero, Santiago said she was “against the PDAF in any manner, shape, form, or under any name.”
Sen. Ralph Recto defended his request to have his PDAF realigned to the calamity fund to help victims of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” which tore through the Visayas on Nov. 8 last year.
“When faced with the choice of deducting the amount from the budget or giving it to victims of the most powerful storm in history, I had no qualms in choosing the homeless victims of that calamity,” he said in a statement.
Deleting the PDAF from the budget was tantamount to reducing the aid that could go to calamity victims, Recto said.
Santiago and Recto, together with Senators Alan Peter and Pia Cayetano, and Joseph Victor Ejercito had their PDAF realigned to the calamity fund.
Two others—Ramon Revilla Jr. and Lito Lapid—opted to have their allocations realigned to the departments of public works and health, among other agencies.
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