Release of pork in Benguet stopped

ARTIST Kidlat Tahimik brings a set of “bul-ul” (rice granary guardians) at an anti-pork barrel rally in Baguio City. EV ESPIRITU/INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet—Officials of this capital town of Benguet province stopped the release of public funds credited as 2013 pork barrel allocation of a lawmaker after its supposed beneficiary was found to be not accredited by the government, the Inquirer has learned.

A P100,000 allocation from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of Benguet Rep. Ronald Cosalan was issued in February to the town government for a cooperative, but officials stopped the release when it could not determine the authenticity of La Trinidad United Multipurpose Cooperative (LAUMC).

Lawyer Franco Bawang, acting chief of the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) in the Cordillera, said LAUMC does not appear on the list of 265 accredited cooperatives in Benguet.

Lilia Koh, secretary of the Cordillera Administrative Region Cooperative Development Council (CARCDC), said LAUMC was not on the council’s list either.

Cosalan, a Liberal Party member, said his PDAF relied on the endorsements of the town and barangay (village) governments.

But on Tuesday, eight months since the LAUMC issue was raised, the town accountant told the Inquirer the irregularity could have been a clerical error.

Henson Golocan, La Trinidad accountant, said the recipient of the P100,000 should have been La Trinidad Municipal Employees Cooperative (LTMEC) and not LAUMC.

He said LTMEC is seeking a certification from Cosalan’s office to correct the fund entry so the employees’ cooperative could collect the money.

According to the list of PDAF allocations posted on the Department of Budget Management website, LAUMC was granted P100,000 for swine production as of Feb. 5, which would be facilitated by the La Trinidad government.

The same list also shows La Trinidad United Multipurpose Association (LAUMA) was entitled to a separate P50,000 allotment and another P75,000 allotment, also for swine production.

Golocan said the local government, then under former Mayor Gregorio Abalos Jr., released the P50,000 and P75,000 allotments to LAUMA on March 26.

La Trinidad Mayor Edna Tabanda on Monday said she instructed employees to tighten the monitoring of PDAF recipients, in coordination with Cosalan’s office.

She said her office would check if the recipients fulfilled the conditions of their respective memorandums of agreement covering every PDAF-financed project.