Militants file graft cases vs senators, Palace execs

A BAGUIO GIRL wears a pig’s snout made of paper as she marches with local Baguio artists in front of Baguio Cathedral. The artists from Artista Kontra-Korapsyon proceeded to a Baguio police station on Saturday (Oct. 19) to file graft complaints against officials implicated in the pork barrel scam and its misuse. RICHARD BALONGLONG/INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON

BAGUIO CITY—Artists and groups calling for the abolition of the pork barrel allocation marched on Saturday to police stations here to file graft charges against national government officials and lawmakers for their alleged misuse of the Priority Development Assistance Fund.

The group, led by Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Isagani Zarate, emerged from a forum on the pork barrel at Baguio Cathedral, with many pork barrel critics wearing facsimiles of a pig snout.

One police station refused to accept the complaints. But another precinct, at the city public market, finally did and entered the complaints in the police blotter.

Suspects

The first complaint entered in the blotter was signed by Zarate, who accused President Aquino, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad Jr. of graft for “illegally realigning disbursed funds under the  DAP (Disbursement Acceleration Program) to projects not identified in the General Appropriations Act.”

Zarate said this was “clearly unconstitutional and detrimental to the best interest of the Filipino people.”

The second complaint, signed by Baguio lawyer and folk singer Jose  Olarte Jr., accused Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr. of plunder for embezzling “more than P50 million of the people’s [tax money] through connivance with [detained businesswoman Janet] Napoles.”

The blotter report was the highlight of activities prepared by  Artista Kontra-Korapsyon (AKKSYON).

Chief Superintendent Benjamin Magalong, Cordillera police director, said the activists would need sworn affidavits for the complaints to be processed into formal criminal cases.

But Zarate said the blotter became another avenue for pork barrel critics to make more people understand why the pork barrel has been detrimental to the public.

In a statement,  AKKSYON said the art community could no longer “remain silent in the midst of corruption committed by government officials at the highest level of power and their network of embezzlers.”

“President Aquino has drastically increased the funding for pork barrel since his term began, [from] P10.07 billion in 2010 to P27 billion for 2014. This despicable accumulation of patronage politics has coursed through the veins of our country for far too long, and the President has not only defended the pork barrel system but has taken part and increased his budget allocation,” the group said.

Unity vs corruption

“We, artists of various backgrounds, …  stand united with our countrymen against the widespread corruption and the pork barrel system. The culture of corruption wrought upon our country must be abolished.

“We demand that the administration re-channel the people’s money to where it rightfully belongs: to jobs, land, education, social services and justice for the Filipino people.” Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon