Palace denies dangling pork funds to effect Charter change

Presidential spokesman Herminio Coloma: Charter change not a priority. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Malacañang on Tuesday denied President Aquino was behind Charter change (Cha-cha) moves in Congress, but opposition legislators said the Palace was secretly offering pork barrel funds to legislators to fast-track amendments that would ease foreign investment restrictions.

At a media briefing on Tuesday, presidential spokesman Herminio Coloma said Aquino had declared many times before that Charter change was “not a priority” of his administration. However, Coloma said, the Palace would not issue an explicit order to administration allies to stop Charter change moves.

“What we’re saying now is that the issue is not a priority of the President, and he’s busy with a lot of things that, to him, are high-priority. At all times, the President uses his decision-making to do what needs to be done. And weighing the present situation, he thinks it’s not yet high time for him to have a different (course of action), or add to what he’d already said.”

On Monday, anti-Cha-cha proponents raised an alarm after the House committee on constitutional amendments approved a resolution, principally authored by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, to add the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” to the Constitution’s articles concerning the national economy and patrimony; education, science, technology, arts, culture and sports, and general provisions.

Critics claimed this would allow lawmakers to override or counter the Constitution, particularly the restrictions that currently prevent foreigners from fully owning public utilities, educational institutions, mining firms and other companies engaged in exploiting or utilizing the country’s natural resources.

Critics, particularly the militant Makabayan bloc in the House, are alarmed that the bill to contravene the Constitution was filed by no less than the Speaker, a Liberal party mate of the President.

“The administration’s hand behind the overspeeding Cha-cha train is obvious as its main drivers are Aquino allies,” ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio said, adding that the committee’s approval of the Cha-Cha resolution after only a few meetings was “not surprising.”

“No doubt, Malacañang has been using its wide arsenal of congressional and presidential pork to grease the approval (of the Cha-cha bill) despite heavy substantive and procedural objections to it,” Tinio said.

Countering Coloma’s assurances, Tinio said: “President Aquino’s record of using the PDAF and other forms of pork, such as the DAP, to control Congress is undeniable.”

The House committee on constitutional reform approved after just four hearings Belmonte’s House Resolution No. 1 adding the phrase “unless provided by law” to lift the foreign equity limits in select businesses through legislation. The bill has already been forwarded to the floor for plenary debate and, if approved by three-fourths of the House members, would be passed on to the Senate.

Tinio claimed that at least P20.8 billion of pork barrel funds of representatives were “tucked into” the 2014 budgets of six line agencies that handpicked members could access through a discreet request form being circulated among House majority members.

“Such informal practices of maintaining the pork barrel system are illegal following the Supreme Court decision. Moreover, they can only persist because of the conscious and willful participation of the President and his Cabinet,” said Tinio.