THREE days before the scheduled ‘A Million People’s March’ of protest in Luneta [which calls for the abolition of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), more popularly known as “the pork barrel”] and solidarity rallies in key cities in the Philippines and the United States, President Benigno S. Aquino III finally decided that it was time to abolish the PDAF.
The president stated that the PDAF will be replaced with a still-unnamed line item budgeting system: “a new mechanism to address the needs of your constituents and sectors, in a manner that is transparent, methodical and rational, and not susceptible to abuse or corruption,” the President said.
Along with Senate President Franklin Drilon and House Speaker Sonny Belmonte, Aquino vowed to “make sure that every citizen and sector will get a fair and equitable share of the national budget for health services, scholarships, livelihood generating projects, and local infrastructure.”
“Your legislators can identify and suggest projects for your districts, but these will have to go through the budgetary process. If approved, these projects will be earmarked as line items, under the programs of your National Government. In this way, they will be enacted into law as part of our National Budget – every line, every peso, and every project open to scrutiny, as with all other programs of your government,” Aquino further said.
The president elaborated on the following “safe-guards against corruption:”
1. We will continue the practice of requiring that projects to be funded come from a specific menu of qualified projects.
2. They cannot include consumable soft projects, such as fertilizers, seeds, medicines, medical kits, dentures, funding for sports fests, training materials, and other such items – these projects whose results and impact we cannot conclusively identify, and who may only be ghost projects, used only as a source of income by the corrupt.
3. They cannot be temporary infrastructure, and neither can they be dredging, desilting, regravelling, or asphalt overlay projects.
4. The funds cannot be disbursed to NGOs and certain GOCCs such as ZREC and NABCOR. Both of these GOCCs will be abolished, along with others of their kind that have become notorious for anomalies, and which seem to serve no other purpose aside from being instruments of corruption.
5. The funds must be limited to the district or sector of the legislator who sponsored it.
6. All items will be subject to open and competitive bidding, with all bid notices and awards posted in the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System or PhilGEPS.
7. So that the public may monitor the implementation themselves, we will make sure that each item will be disclosed in the DBM and related agency websites and the National Data Portal of the government.
Aquino said that his administration will continue “the practice of funding only projects chosen from a specific menu,” as reported by Philstar.com.
However, netizens in social media expressed serious doubt over the president’s seemingly sudden “change of heart.” Some called it a flipflop move, perhaps to pacify civil unrest.
After all, it is well-known that Pres. Aquino was adamant about keeping the PDAF.
Others commented that the president was only renaming the PDAF, just as it was renamed in the past (from Countrywide Development Fund or CDF, it became the Priority Development Assis- tance Fund or PDAF in 2000.)
A number even poked fun and took a shot at renaming the new system. With the hashtag #newpork, name studies with acronyms like BACON (Budgetary Allocation for Collaborative Outreach Nationwide); LIEMPO (Lawmakers Initiative for Emergency, Miscellaneous and Personal Outlay); CUPIT (Countrywide Universal Priority Initiatives Treasury Fund); NAPOLES (National Assistance Program of Lawmakers Engaged in Swindling); HOLDAF (Holistic Lawmaking for Development of All Filipinos); PANOT (President Aquino’s Nationwide Outlay for Transparency), etc., went viral in social media as well.
Without a doubt, public ire over the pork barrel scam has finally come to a boiling point.
As reported by Inquirer.net, “netizens vowed to push through with the Million People March on Monday at the Luneta to register their disgust and outrage over the misuse of public funds.” The anti-pork barrel protests will commence as planned, on August 26.
It seems that Pres. Aquino’s mandate of “Daang matuwid,” has become an even taller order at this juncture. The pork barrel scam is proving to be a more severe litmus test compared to its predecessors (i.e. corruption in the military, the resignation of former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona and plunder charges filed against former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.)
In the greater scheme of things, it proves that our democracy is at work, and that our involvement as Filipino citizens has escalated to new heights — compelling the government to make significant, if not drastic changes to the status quo. Corruption is no longer an acceptable reality.
We should remain focused and vigilant in our cause — to investigate and prosecute unscrupulous government officials who have been found guilty of misusing and abusing public funds for their own benefit.
We can no longer live with “tainted meat,” nor feed on leftovers.
“Daang matuwid” is a dish best served clean, fresh and hearty for all Filipinos to enjoy.
(AJPress)
