Bishop urges SC not to give in to Palace, Congress on TRO on ‘pork’

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–An official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines on Wednesday called on the Supreme Court to show independence and not to easily give in to the request of Malacañang and Congress to lift the temporary restraining order on the pork barrel funds.

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo stressed that if these government officials genuinely wanted to aid the poor, they would find other ways to do so not only through the pork barrel, officially known as the Priority Development Assistance Fund.

“I pray that the high tribunal will show its independence from the House of Representatives and Palace on the TRO on the pork barrel,” Pabillo told reporters on Wednesday.

“They are again using the poor for their interests. If they really want to help the poor, the government has a lot of ways to do so, not only by using the pork barrel,” the prelate added.

Pabillo, the head of the CBCP-National Secretariat for Social Action, was reacting to a petition of the Aquino administration and Congress urging the high tribunal to either partially or totally lift the TRO on the pork barrel for the rest of the year.

In its comment to the SC, the Office of the Solicitor General on Tuesday argued that the TRO would “work to the damage of innocent citizens who rely on the operations of the PDAF for educational and medical assistance purposes.”

But Pabillo doubted the true intentions of such petition, saying that the PDAF was benefiting politicians more than the poor. “They are the ones being helped by the pork barrel, not the poor,” he pointed out.

Over the Church-run Radio Veritas yesterday, Pabillo also said that those calling for the lifting of the TRO have a narrow mindset when it came to the issue of the pork barrel.

“Those requesting to remove the TRO are those who have a narrow perspective on the pork barrel, which is supposedly to help in uplifting the plight of the poor,” said the prelate.

“So I really hope that the Supreme Court won’t be pressured by Malacañang and by these lawmakers who seem to cannot live without their share of the pork barrel funds,” he added.