PRESIDENT Noynoy Aquino ran and won on his anti-corruption platform. While not all kababayans were happy about the way his administration pushed for plunder charges against his predecessor and now Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and for the impeachment of former Chief Justice Renato Corona, a majority of Filipinos are still happy that the son of democracy icons, Ninoy and Cory Aquino, is fulfilling his campaign promise.
But the “daang matuwid” has again been shaken by yet another scandal, trying and testing if this government is indeed “of the people, by the people, for the people”…or if it just serving the personal interests of greedy self-serving politicians.
This time time,” Exhibit A” has been the Php 10-billion dollar pork barrel scam that was meant to be used by the honorable men and women of the Senate and Congress.
A whistleblower exposed that many distinguished lawmakers have been pocketing millions of dollars through a modus operandi involving businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.
Napoles put up a number of non-government organizations (NGOs) that accept financial allocations from certain legislators’ Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF, or pork barrel) for projects.
The NGOs have been reported as bogus organizations with no real projects to help the intended beneficiaries — the constituents of the lawmakers.
Many of these politicos were also reported to have doled out their PDAF funds to their own “foundations.”
The timely revelation of the Commission on Audit (COA) just supported these allegations.
After a two-year audit on pork barrel funds, COA bared findings that lawmakers and executive agencies misused billions of pesos of taxpayers’ money.
According to reports from ABS-CBN News, COA Chairman Grace Pulido-Tan said this became possible because of a combination of corruption and the failure of national government agencies, lawmakers’ offices, and lapses by the Department of Budget and Management itself, which did not follow its own rules in some cases.
She also said there was widespread disregard for rules, which appeared loose to begin with.
Pulido-Tan said COA has left it up to “investigating agencies, specifically the Office of the Ombudsman and Department of Justice,” to pursue the cases and file charges.
Responding to these allegations against lawmakers, Senator Jinggoy Estrada told reporters, “It is not up to the senators to determine whether an NGO is bogus or not…Alangan naman na kami pa ang magsasabi na, ‘Uy, bogus ‘yan.’ How will we know?”
Estrada added that lawmakers only endorse NGOs, and that they do so in good faith. Estrada’s name came up in the list of senators who are allegedly involved in this pork barrel scam.
Filipinos all over the world are outraged by this news, which just confirms what many have known all along, but with no hard evidence to prosecute erring politicians.
Calls for President Aquino to abolish the PDAF or pork barrel have also been escalating.
But Aquino dismissed this call, saying that the PDAF is good, because it allows local concerns (otherwise unknown to the national government) to be addressed.
Aquino, however, also said that releases of PDAF have been suspended while investigations into the alleged misuse of the pork barrel funds is underway.
But Filipinos around the world are coming out and speaking up.
On August 26, many kababayans will gather in Luneta at 9am to demand for the abolishment of pork barrel and for the unbiased and fair investigation of government officials implicated in the PDAF scam.
Similar protest actions will happen in different parts of the United States, in solidarity with the movement in Manila.
Here is the official statement of those coordinating the event, many of whom I personally know to be persons of integrity, motivated only by the desire to help the country, especially marginalized Filipinos.
Official statement of the concerned citizens of the August 26 Protest Picnic
WE, INDEPENDENT CONCERNED CITIZENS OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, composed of unaffiliated individuals from various fields and different walks of life, have been following the recent controversies involving the much questioned Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or the “Pork Barrel Fund”. As taxpayers, we express our disappointment and disgust at how the said fund, the fruit of our hard labor, has been mishandled. The Aquino Administration has repeatedly reminded us that we, the taxpayers, are our public servants’ boss and as such we now demand that:
1. The PDAF or Pork Barrel Fund be scrapped.
2. All Senators and Congressmen account for all the PDAF received by them.
3. All the Senators and Congressmen who are found to be involved in the malversation of the Pork Barrel Funds issued to them and all private individuals involved be held liable civilly and criminally for such following the proper legal procedure before the proper legal venues.
Further, we support the Ombudsman, former Supreme Court Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales, in the investigation of this controversy and urge her to finish the investigation within one hundred days to give those involved their day in court.
Finally, we urge all Filipino citizens like us – the taxpayers, the BOSSES – to remain vigilant on this controversy and to continue the fight we have started. Panahon na upang gisingin ang ating natutulog na damdamin at ipaalam sa ating mga opisyales na tayo ang “boss” at karapatan nating bantayan ang perang bunga ng ating dugo at pawis.
Together let us express our grievances on 26 August 2013, National Heroes Day, 9am at the Luneta Park in a peaceful “Protest Picnic” and stake our claim on a little piece of our historical park.
THE FILIPINO PEOPLE DESERVE AN EXPLANATION. PUBLIC OFFICERS MUST ACCOUNT FOR AND RESPOND TO THIS PORK BARREL MESS. (To be continued)
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Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
