Jinggoy Estrada says solons could have done what he did

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—If they had so wished, members of the House of Representatives could have assigned what would have been their pork barrel allocations if the Supreme Court had not ruled the Priority Development Assistance Fund unconstitutional, to the various local government units as he did, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada said Friday.

Estrada, who is under fire  for transferring half of what would have been his share of the Senate pork barrel to the city of Manila, of which his farther is mayor,  said he could not understand why the congressmen missed the item “allocation to the local government units” or ALGU  in the national budget.

“It’s there in the budget. That’s not my creation. Why didn’t they tap it?’’ he said in a telephone interview.

The House had already passed the national budget when the high court ruled that pork barrel allocations, whose use was at the discretion of individual legislators, were unconstitutional as only the executive department could spend money appropriated by Congress. Thus it became a question of reassigning the legislators’ pork barrel allocations to other legitimate items on the budget.

House members have been grumbling over Estrada’s realignment of his P200 million PDAF allocation to the local government items while they were supposedly barred by their leaders from doing the same thing in view of the abolition of the pork barrel.

The ALGU is a lump sum item on the budget that could be tapped by the President to aid a province, city or municipality.

Estrada’s realigned PDAF allocation was broken down into P100 million for Manila, where former President Joseph Estrada is the mayor; P50 million for Caloocan City and another P50 million for Lal-lo town in Cagayan province.

Estrada dismissed claims that he and eight senators who had their PDAF allocation realigned to the ALGU, calamity fund and other projects had been unfair to the congressmen, who abided by their chamber’s decision to realign their PDAF to five executive departments.

“That’s not my fault,” Estrada said. “There was nothing unlawful in what I did. It was ratified by both houses. Why should it be seen as being unfair?’’

Sen. Francis Escudero, chair of the Senate finance committee, said that senators and representatives could realign their PDAF to the ALGU without violating the decision of the Supreme Court ruling that the PDAF was unconstitutional.

“They can actually do it. It’s not a circumvention because still they can’t intervene,’’ Escudero told reporters on Thursday.

He was speaking in the context of the high court ruling which declared unconstitutional all provisions of the law that allowed legislators “to wield any form of post-enactment authority’’ in the implementation of the budget.

In case of fund misuse, the recipient LGU and its officials will be held liable, not the lawmaker, Escudero said.

“If their relatives, if not their allies, stole the fund, then they’re the ones accountable. These are accountable funds that either the national or local government must be accountable for,’’ he said.

Escudero explained that ALGU was a lump sum item on the budget that had no specifications and guidelines.

“It’s a facility; it’s a procedure whereby it gives the Executive flexibility. If an LGU needs something, they (Executive Department) can augment the ALGU so they can give money to the LGU,’’ he said.

“Take for example the LGUs affected by `Yolanda.’ If there’s no ALGU item in the 2014 budget, and we have not put in enough rehabilitation fund, there’s no realignment that could be done in favor of these LGUs,’’ he added.

According to Escudero, there was no ALGU amendment concerning Taguig and Makati cities.

In the 2014 budget, the ALGU was classified into Metro Manila Development Authority; Special Shares of LGUs in the Proceeds of National Taxes; Barangay Officials Death Benefit Funds; Local Government Support Fund, and Special Shares of LGUs in the Proceeds of Fire Code Fees.

Estrada’s request fell under the Local Government Support Fund, which totaled P405 million, including the P200 million for the three LGUs. It wasn’t indicated where the balance of P205 million would go.

This will be used to fund the priority projects of the LGUs and will be released in accordance with the guidelines of the Department of Budget and Management. But this is subject to “conditional implementation.’’

The President, speaking on the conditional implementation of the fund in his veto message, said the earmarking of specific appropriations for selected LGUs “may not be consistent’’ with the objectives and prioritization of the Local Government Support Fund.

“I hereby direct the DBM to issue the guidelines in the equal availment of the Fund by the LGUs,’’ he said.

Estrada said the public should not discriminate against Manila simply because his father is the chief executive there.

“Why discriminate just because the mayor is my father? It’s on record that Manila is deep in debt,’’ he said.  But otherwise, he was deferring to the Executive Department whether to withhold the fund.

“That’s their call,’’ he said.

Still smarting from Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV’s comment that he had been reckless in the realignment of his PDAF, Estrada said: “Hwag s’ya masyadong ma-epal (He shouldn’t be too meddlesome).’’

Estrada was the only senator who had his PDAF realigned to ALGU. Five others had requested that their allocations be earmarked for the calamity fund, while three others had theirs allotted to hospitals, universities and public works projects.

Fifteen senators had their PDAF totaling P3 billion deleted from the 2014 budget following strident calls for its abolition in the face of a pork barrel scandal.