Special law not needed to scrap pork barrel – Drilon

Sen. Franklin Drilon. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–There is no need for a special law to scrap the legislators’ pork barrel funds, Senator Franklin Drilon said on Thursday.

Drilon said the priority development assistance funds (PDAF) known as “pork barrel” of congressmen and senators could be simply deleted by Congress in the General Appropriations Act (GAA).

“We don’t need a special law to abolish the PDAF. You just delete that from the GAA at mawawala na yun (and that will be gone),” he said during a regular weekly forum at the Senate.

“Hindi po kailangan ng batas para i-abolish ang PDAF. Kung ipagbawal na yung PDAF, huwag isama sa budget (We don’t a law to abolish PDAF. If we will prohibit it, let’s not put it in the budget).

“I repeat, we don’t need a special law. Again, having said that, even the approval of the GAA would require the concurrence of the two houses,” he said.

But Drilon, who initially proposed the scrapping of the pork barrel amid alleged misused of the funds, pointed out that the House of Representatives through Speaker Feliciano Belmonte has expressed its position to retain the PDAF, saying their constituents would need it.

“That’s the reality that we face,” he said.

“Confronted with this, the next thing to do, to me, realistically and achievable, is to limit the use of PDAF.”

“In other words, be very strict in the menu so that you can minimize what are perceived to be the abuses in the use of these congressional initiatives,” said Drilon.