Antipork lawmakers also lined up at the ‘trough’

MANILA, Philippines—Can a congressman get his “pork,” and kill it, too?

The militant Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives is calling for the unconditional abolition of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), even if some of its members were found to have enjoyed the fruits of the pork barrel.

Documents from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed that five congressmen belonging to the group received a combined pork allocation of P481 million since President Aquino assumed office three years ago.

Former Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casiño received P85.4 million this year, P69.8 million last year and P15 million in 2011. Former Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano also got his share of P52.3 million in 2012 and P26.8 million in 2011.

Officially tolerated

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Former Kabataan Rep. Raymond Palatino received P22.9 million last year and P46.7 million in 2011, while ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio got P20 million and P50 million last year and in 2011, respectively.

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Incumbent Gabriela Rep. Emmi de Jesus has yet to receive her pork allocation this year, based on the DBM’s list of “PDAF releases.” But she got P42.9 million last year and P50 million in 2011.

Last month, the Makabayan bloc filed a bill scrapping the pork barrel system, saying that it was a “form of institutionalized patronage and officially tolerated graft and corruption.”

But Tinio and company also came under scrutiny for taking their share of the pork in the past.

Tinio on Saturday vowed that he and the other Makabayan congressmen “won’t access their pork barrel,” meaning that none of them would “nominate” projects to the DBM to be funded by the P70-million PDAF allocation for each House member every year.

“The question that needs to be asked is, ‘Are you for abolition or not?’” he told the Inquirer.

The Makabayan bloc accepted its share of the pork before because “this was already tucked in the budget and allocated for specific projects,” Casiño said in a separate interview.

Carrot and stick

“Our attitude is if you want to release it, then release it. But we won’t plead with the Palace to give it to us. We won’t be held hostage by the pork barrel. We won’t allow it to be used as a carrot and stick,” he said.

The DBM documents showed that much of the Makabayan congressmen’s pork allocations went to such projects as the construction of classrooms, financial assistance to poor patients and livelihood promotion.

Mariano, for instance, allocated P1 million of his pork for the construction of a “multipurpose building” in Gingoog City, Misamis Oriental.

That the project was situated in Gingoog City, where the New People’s Army ambushed Sen. Teofisto Guingona III’s mother last April, should not raise eyebrows, according to Casiño.

The former lawmaker denied allegations that militant party-list organizations were using their PDAF in areas where there was a strong NPA presence.

“It’s not true. We usually allocate projects in areas where there are no government projects. We don’t do it in vote-rich areas,” he said.

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