FSGO Statement on the Pork Barrel Philippine Daily Inquirer 12 November 2013 With respect, we ask the Supreme Court to declare the PDAF unconstitutional, and we ask the full support of the President, the Senate President and the Speaker of the House for this decision. Our collective experience in government convinces us that PDAF and similar pork barrel mechanisms have corrupted our political system and diminished our democracy. Allowing legislators to determine how enacted budget appropriations should be spent undermines the separation of powers, the principle of checks and balances, and the accountability of public officials. Pork barrel promotes competition for political office not based on public service but on private gain. Reports of violence and fraud committed even in barangay elections reveal the trickling down of corruption to the basic units of government. Pork barrel perpetuates the practice of political patronage. Poor constituents looking for money to cover education, medicine, and burial costs are led to believe that they are recipients of the personal generosity of politicians when the funds come from taxes that they themselves pay. As demonstrated in the Napoles scam, the lion’s share of pork barrel does not actually go to the poor, but to predatory politicians and their partners. We continue to indulge in the hypocrisy of limiting the salaries of government officials in the executive branch, while allowing legislators access to pork barrel and unaudited allowances. “New, improved control systems” to regulate the use of pork barrel have been tried in the past. These have achieved limited success. One reason is the concentration of political power in a small number of political families, who trade pork barrel allocations among themselves to circumvent controls on the balance between “soft” and “hard” project funds. Pork barrel has bred and continues to strengthen political dynasties. It gives entrenched politicians the resources to give themselves and their kin a stranglehold on political positions. We know from experience that there are some members of political families who have served honorably in government. But the system itself favors opportunists who exploit the vicious, self-perpetuating cycle of electoral victory, access to pork barrel, and enhanced re-election opportunities. Abolishing the pernicious pork barrel system is the first step towards discouraging from politics those whose priority is profit. We need to open the Senate and the Congress to those with the professional credentials, the moral character, and the commitment to render public service. Democracy requires greater inclusivity in both economic growth and political empowerment. Former Senior Government Officials: Vicente Paterno Former Minister Ministry of Industry Leticia Ramos-Shahani Former Undersecretary Department of Foreign Affairs Jesus Estanislao Former Secretary Department of Finance Edilberto de Jesus Former Secretary Department of Education Isagani Cruz Former Undersecretary Department of Education Karina Constantino-David Former Chairperson Civil Service Commission Francisco Del Rosario, Jr. Former President Development Bank of the Philippines Vitaliano Nañagas II Former Chairperson Development Bank of the Philippines Rafael Alunan III Former Secretary Depart of Interior and Local Government Tomas Africa Former Administrator National Statistics Office Gerardo Bulatao Former Undersecretary Department of Agrarian Reform Ramon Del Rosario, Jr. Former Secretary Department of Finance Fulgencio Factoran, Jr. Former Secretary Department of Environment and Natural Resources Victoria Garchitorena Former Head of the Presidential Management Staff Office of the President Marietta Goco Former Chairperson Presidential Commission to Fight Poverty Philip Ella Juico Former Secretary Department of Agrarian Reform Antonio La Viña Former Undersecretary Department of Environment and Natural Resources Alberto Lim Former Secretary Department of Tourism Narzalina Lim Former Secretary Department of Tourism Jose Marie Mendoza Former Secretary-General Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council Jose Molano, Jr. Former Executive Director Commission on Filipinos Overseas Norberto Nazareno Former President and CEO Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation Felicito Payumo Former Chairperson Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Victor Ramos Former Secretary Department of Environment and Natural Resources Amina Rasul Former Adviser on Youth Affairs/Chairperson National Youth Commission Walfrido Reyes Former Undersecretary Department of Tourism Rodolfo Reyes Former Press Secretary Office of the President Ricardo Tan Former President Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation Wigberto Tañada Former Commissioner Bureau of Customs Deogracias Vistan Former President Land Bank of the Philippines
Posted on: Tue, 12 Nov 2013 02:29:05 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015