CHEd chief says lawmakers got P14M each from realigned pork

CHEd Chair Patricia Licuanan: We encourage legislators to nominate PHOTO FROM CHED.GOV.PH

MANILA, Philippines–The Committee on Higher Education (CHEd) has admitted that lawmakers received P14 million each from the P4.1 billion realigned pork barrel funds that the CHEd received in this year’s budget.

During the congressional hearing on the CHEd’s 2015 budget on Tuesday, CHEd Chair Patricia Licuanan told lawmakers that the redeployed P4.1 billion pork barrel of the lawmakers had been redirected to a scholarship program called the “Tulong Dunong” under CHEd this year.

Given priority

She also admitted to having given priority to the lawmakers’ list of scholars to ensure that the students would be able to continue their studies despite the Supreme Court decision declaring the congressional pork barrel, or the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), unconstitutional last November.

Licuanan said that she had misgivings about the equal division of the P4.1 billion among all congressional districts because not all areas have the same number of beneficiaries, citing as an example the tiny district of Batanes as against other more populated districts.

“Dividing it (equally among districts) is not a good way to do it. Like Batanes, they have a few number of scholars but because we were pressed for time, we did not know any better,” she said.

Licuanan refused to call the P4.1 billion given to CHEd as pork barrel even if it came from the realigned pork barrel, or PDAF, and the lawmakers were given the say on who should benefit from the allocated scholarship grants.

She stressed that these scholarship grants were CHEd commitments that it had to honor even before the high court made its landmark ruling.

“It was PDAF, it was realigned, that is my own take on this… so we have this increased amount. Essentially we will be giving scholarships and we allow, we encourage legislators to nominate and there is no reason why they should stop. That is why we have a set of guidelines, which was pointed out to us by COA (Commission on Audit), to ensure that everybody will follow and abide by the same guidelines,” said Licuanan.

Essentially pork barrel

But ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio pointed out that “this kind of individual lump sums plus post-enactment discretion of lawmakers are essentially pork barrel funds that are already prohibited after the SC decision.”

Tinio then played an audio recording of Licuanan candidly telling lawmakers in an executive session not to worry about their scholars as they would still be getting their share of the CHEd’s budget using money realigned from the funds that were intended for their outlawed PDAF this year.

“I will continue to use the budget hearings as a venue for further exposing the existence of illegal congressional pork in the 2014 and 2015 budgets as a matter of policy and practice of the Aquino administration,” he said.

Licuanan said there was nothing wrong in saying that the P4.1 billion given to CHEd was, in political terms, actually pork.

Part of reality

“What is wrong with that, Mr. Congressman? Part of the reality is that congressmen are pushing and they tend to be very angry,” said Licuanan who noted that the General Appropriations Act of 2013 has a special provision that stated that the scholarships should continue.

“If a congressman appears on your door, you (CHEd directors) better give them attention but always within the CHEd guidelines. My policy, Mr. Congressman, is there is no need to make a congressman unhappy as long as they follow the guidelines, that is fine,” she said.

Licuanan clarified that giving priority to lawmakers’ requests was part of the CHEd’s guidelines.

“Legislators, they will recommend, it is part of their nature. For instance, in SUCs (state universities and colleges), we have vacancies, Congress people recommend all the time but it doesn’t mean that they dictate where the money goes,” she said.

“We can guarantee to the congressmen as well as the SUCs, for those that were overtaken by the TRO (temporary restraining order), we guarantee that we will cover. We have asked the SUCs to take them in (the lawmakers’ scholars) and we will take charge of the cost,” Licuanan said.

To be cut down

Next year, Licuanan said the P4.1 billion for the scholarship program will be cut down to P1.5 billion, with the balance of P2.6 billion to be transferred to the SUCs because the Department of Budget and Management has doubts about CHEd’s capacity to deploy these funds swiftly and more efficiently.