Nograles denies Lacson’s claim of P5B ‘pork’ to solons

By: Marc Jayson Cayabyab - 8 years ago

Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles. MARC JAYSON CAYABYAB/INQUIRER.net

Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles on Wednesday denied Senator Panfilo Lacson’s claim that as much as P5 billion pork barrel was allocated to some lawmakers in the 2017 budget.

In a text message, Nograles, who chairs the House appropriations committee, said all checks and balances were in place to comply with the Supreme Court decision that scrapped the congressional pork barrel Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) at the height of the Janet Lim-Napoles pork barrel scam.

Nograles said the House ensured that there is no post-enactment identification of projects in the budget, or the practice of identifying projects after the enactment of the budget prevalent using the lumpsum allocations but was declared illegal by the Supreme Court.

“That’s not true. There is no pork barrel. There is no PDAF in the budget. There are no post-enactment projects in the budget. You will only see specific line-item projects that have been identified by different agencies and departments of government,” Nograles said.

Nograles was reacting to Lacson’s allegation that favored lawmakers were allocated with P1.5 billion to P5 billion pork barrel fund.

READ: Some lawmakers got P5B ‘pork’ in 2017 budget, says Lacson

Nograles said the budgetary process is a two-tiered approach where government agencies and departments identify projects to be funded under the General Appropriations Act.

“From its inception, the projects and programs have been itemized and spelled out clearly and specifically. From the House all the way to the Senate, the Department of Budget and Management monitors every movement of the budget process to ensure there is no violation of the Supreme Court decision against pork barrel,” Nograles said.

Nograles assured Lacson that Congress strictly adhered with the high court’s decision scrapping the pork barrel and prohibiting the post-enactment identification of projects.

“We in Congress also exercise strict adherence against the pork barrel to ensure that we comply with the Supreme Court decision. If anything, we have made doubly sure that projects and programs are even more specific so there will be no room at all for post-enactment,” Nograles said.

“All our hearings and deliberations will bear this out — which have always been transparent and open. The budget book itself is a public document open to scrutiny by anyone,” he added.

In a statement on Wednesday, Lacson said some congressmen from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) told him about the pork barrel allocation to some solons.

“Inabot nga kami ng 10 p.m. sa office ko explaining in so many words, thus – ‘Buti nga sila, tig-P1.5 billion lang na projects. Yung iba raw congressmen abot ng tig-P5 billion,’” he said in a statement.

“Change is coming? Maybe, pero it’s pork allocations changing hands from Liberal Party congressmen to those from Mindanao,” the senator said, referring to the erstwhile ruling Liberal Party whose members dominated the previous Congress under the Aquino administration. JE