Legislators want one-time COA report on pork

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. (left) and Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr.: Congress is being flogged every day. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO and FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—House leaders have appealed to Commission on Audit (COA) Chair Grace Pulido-Tan to come out with a one-time, all-inclusive report on all of their members’ lump sum releases—both Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) fund endorsed by representatives—from 2010 to 2012.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. claimed that the COA’s “piecemeal” reporting of allegedly anomalous PDAF and DAP releases of House members to fake foundations, including those controlled by the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam brains Janet Lim Napoles, have been eroding the public’s trust in the House.

“It’s about time the COA came out with a comprehensive report on how many congressmen have unliquidated fund releases. This bit-by-bit release of COA audit reports is doing more harm than good to the institution,” said Belmonte in a text message.

Barzaga said that an omnibus of all House members funds releases should provide a clearer picture on the specific House members involved and how much of their pork barrel funds were diverted to fake foundations.

“What is happening is that Congress is being flogged in media every day because of this daily or weekly exposés. This has the effect of conditioning the mind of the public that everyone in Congress is guilty. This is unfair to the greater majority of House members,” said Barzaga.