Antipork forces vow to hit 10M signatures

MANILA, Philippines–Organizers of the people’s initiative to abolish the pork barrel system on Monday said they expected the Aquino administration to try to derail the campaign, but vowed to press the drive for 10 million signatures and force Congress to scrap what they believed was the source of official corruption in government.

Activists and militant groups marched across the country Monday, National Heroes’ Day, to protest against the Aquino administration’s keeping the pork barrel despite a Supreme Court ruling last year that the political patronage fund in the national budget was unconstitutional.

Organizers set up booths in market places, schools, plazas and churches to gather 10 million signatures, well in excess of the 6 million required by the Constitution to force Congress to enact a law that the citizens want but the lawmakers do not.

Under the initiative and referendum law, the signatures of at least 10 percent of all registered voters, and at least 3 percent of voters in each legislative district, are required for a people’s initiative.

The signature campaign was launched in Cebu City on Saturday and it went nationwide starting on Monday. Organizers said they hoped to achieve 10 million signatures by Dec. 31.

In Western Visayas Monday, Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate led the protest against the pork barrel at a forum on the people’s initiative in Iloilo City.

The signature campaign was launched during the forum held at Iloilo National High School.

“This is a daunting task and we expect all efforts to derail this initiative,” Zarate said. “Congress will not abolish the pork barrel on its own. But we believe we can gather the signatures because the people want it abolished.”

Zarate said the organizers hoped to submit at least 6 million signatures to the Comelec by next February.

Lump sums in the budget

He said that despite the Supreme Court ruling that struck down the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) last year and the court’s declaration on July 1 that the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) was unconstitutional, lump-sum appropriations are found in the proposed P2.6-trillion budget for 2015.

“Criminalizing lump-sum and discretionary appropriations will greatly diminish opportunities for corruption” Zarate said.

After the forum, about 200 people marched to Plazoletagay to protest the administration’s retention of the pork barrel system in defiance of the Supreme Court’s ruling.

In Roxas City, Capiz province, about 1,500 protesters staged “Run after Corruption,” running from People’s Park in Roxas village and through the city’s main streets.

Support from Church

In Bacolod City, Negros Occidental province, the Diocese of San Carlos declared its support for the signature campaign.

“We, the clergy in the Diocese of San Carlos agreed during our August monthly recollection to join the historic campaign to pass a law [that would abolish] the pork barrel system through a people’s initiative, because this system has become a source of corruption and of political patronage,” the diocese said in a statement.

“We condemn as gravely immoral the irresponsible and unjust use of public funds [that] could otherwise have been used for basic services, like health and education,” it said.

The diocese said a law needed to be passed to prohibit and penalize the appropriation and use of lump-sum discretionary funds and require line-item budgeting.

The signature campaign also started in Kalibo town, Aklan province, with the Aklan Church and People’s Solidarity toward Good Governance sponsoring the gathering of signatures.

Some politicians in the region said they respected the drive for a people’s initiative, but they believed it was unnecessary.

Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez of Negros Occidental (3rd District) said a people’s initiative was not necessary, as the House of Representatives was reviewing the budget, which he believed contained no pork.

“As far as I am concerned, there is no more pork barrel,” said Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer of Negros Occidental (4th District).

Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. also said there was no more pork barrel, but in a democracy, those behind the signature drive had the prerogative to mount the campaign.

Signature booths

In Southern Tagalog, signature booths went up in Laguna and Cavite provinces with the objective of contributing 1 million signatures to the national campaign against the pork barrel.

Southern Tagalog refers to regions IV-A or Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) and IV-B or the island provinces of Mindoro Oriental and Occidental, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan. Regions IV-A and IV-B are subdivided into 30 legislative districts.

In the Bicol Region, groups opposed to the pork barrel led by Bayan-Bikol gathered in key urban centers in Albay, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte and Sorsogon provinces to launch their own signature drive. They aimed to gather half a million signatures.

On Wednesday, the first anniversary of the Million People March against the pork barrel, an alliance of teachers and students at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) will launch a “peach campaign” by sporting peach-colored ribbons and wearing peach-colored shirts to counter the “yellow campaign” of President Aquino.

Andrianne Mark Ng, coordinator of the People’s Initiative against the Pork Barrel System, said her group aimed to get signatures from 10 percent of the region’s voting population of around 8 million, the latest figure recorded by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for the 2013 barangay (village) elections.

To achieve that goal, Ng said, the group will try to convince at least 3 percent of the voters in each legislative district to support the people’s initiative.

“That’s about 800,000 signatures plus we have a buffer of around 200,000. So that’s about 1 million signatures,” Ng said.

A regional center where people may sign up for the people’s initiative was opened at the Calamba City transport terminal in Laguna province.

Signature booths were also set up in Biñan and Sta. Rosa cities and in Calauan town in Laguna, as well as in the cities of Dasmariñas and Bacoor in Cavite province. The signature booths will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day until Aug. 31.

Ng said he believed it would not be hard for the group to encourage people to sign up.

“A year since the pork barrel scam broke out, people have become aware of the issue that the mere mention of pork to them means corruption,” he said.

He said all Catholic bishops in Southern Tagalog had signed up and expressed support for the gathering of signatures during Masses in the parishes.

.5M signatures

In Bicol, Daniel Baluncio, head of Bayan-Bikol, said his group aimed to get signatures from 15 percent of registered voters in every district of the provinces in the region to amass 500,000 signatures.

He said around 500 protesters joined simultaneous marches on Monday morning in key cities in the region.

In Albay, 100 protesters marched from Daraga to Peñaranda Park in front of the provincial capitol, where they staged a 30-minute program to denounce the pork barrel.

Balucio said 150 protesters gathered at Plaza Quince Martirez in Naga City and 150 in Camp Escudero in Sorsogon City. He said 50 protesters were expected at the elevated plaza in Daet town, Camarines Norte province, for a rally at 5 to 6 p.m.

Paul Vince Casilihan, spokesman for Karapatan-Bikol, said his group had been using social media and radio even before Monday’s launch to promote the signature drive.

Campaign in Baguio

In Baguio City in the north, a group of activists launched a drive to gather 150,000 signatures for the national campaign.

The Tongtongan ti Umili group launched the signature campaign at Malcolm Square in downtown Baguio City.

Children of the activists wearing pig masks sang songs to entertain people as they waited to sign up for the people’s initiative.

No protests against the pork barrel were reported in major cities and urban centers in northern and central Luzon.–Reports from Nestor P. Burgos and Carla P. Gomez, Inquirer Visayas; Maricar Cinco, Shiena Barameda, Ma. April Mier and Michael B. Jaucian, Inquirer Southern Luzon; and Johanna Marie Buenaobra, Inquirer Northern Luzon