PEOPLE POWWOW BY HERBERT VEGO Column as published in Panay News Aug. 26, 2013 No end in sight to the pork barrel TODAY’S celebration of the National Heroes Day coincides with the nationwide, multi-sectoral “Million People March vs. Pork Barrel” aimed at denouncing the massive malversation of public funds through the pork barrel, specifically the now familiar “P10-billion Napoles scam” that diverted the said amount to ghost foundations. We at the Iloilo Press Club (IPC) will be among the Ilonggo groups who will converge at the Iloilo Provincial Capitol to condemn this biggest political malady that now puts to shame the P800-million “fertilizer scam” committed by Agriculture Undersecretary Joc-joc Bolante during the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo presidency. The idiom pork barrel, in its derogatory sense, refers to national government funding for the politicians’ local projects, whether in public works (such as highways or bridges), social services (such as education funds or public school buildings), or special projects (such as livelihood programs or community development projects) in exchange for their constituents’ political support. It is widely perceived that it’s to dissuade people from joining the march that the President, in a speech last Friday, vowed to stop the solons’ pork barrel. Well, if we give PNoy the benefit of the doubt, will he delve into the nitty-gritty of the scam and prosecute Janet L. Napoles together with her collaborating senators and congressmen? This corner does not think so. Chances are, PNoy would make make-believe fine-tunings and call the pork by a new name. Remember, it used to be known as Countrywide Development Fund (CDF) but became Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) during the Arroyo administration. A piece of pork by any other name – lechon, adobo or linaga – is still pork. If Aquino were sincere, he could have abolished the pork barrel system on his first day in office. He did not, contrary to his promise while campaigning for president in 2010. Instead, he dangled pork to strengthened his domination over the supposedly co-equal legislature through the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). Normally, each senator and congressman is entitled to annual pork barrel of P200-million and P70 million, respectively. But he gives more pork to political allies and deprive his enemies of it. The worst case in point was of former Congressman Augusto Syjuco, an ally of former President Arroyo, who got zero pork throughout his 2010-2013 incumbency. The joke is that if PNoy were to really run after “representathieves,” mabakante ang tanan nga pulungkuan sa Batasan. When the Napoles scam first surfaced into public awareness, opposition senators and congressmen cried “politically motivated.” Three opposition senators at once hugged the headlines for being most generous to Janet Napoles’ bogus foundations: Ramon “Bong” Revilla, P422.99 million; Juan Ponce Enrile, P407.39 million; and Jinggoy Estrada, P396.25 million. Eventually, however, Commission on Audit (COA) chief Ma. Gracia Pulido-Tan declassified also names of administration congressmen in the list. How could PNoy abolish the pork when he is the biggest beneficiary of pork barrel politics? He has discretionary power over billions of pesos of “social funds.” Even solons identified with PNoy – the same faces who used to kowtow to GMA – believe that the President would not really abolish the pork barrel; he would only be “line-itemizing” it to ensure that each project is identified and awarded to winning bidder before each fund release. We were not born yesterday. Prior to the disclosure of the COA report linking certain lawmakers to the Napoles scam, we had already heard thelumang tugtugin that they would play to lull those who would cry wolf: “How could we get hold of the when it goes directly to the winning bidder?” Naturally they would not admit having grabbed a share – usually between 10 and 30 percent – from a contractor or supplier under the table. In the most familiar scheme of “cooking” the pork, where three or more bidders gather together, they agree among themselves to bid higher prices than the lawmaker’s chosen contractor on condition that they would get a piece of the pie. There have been anomalies of more or less the same magnitude as Napoles’, but these have hardly stirred ripples. A COA report declassified not too long ago revealed a missing P6-billion out of the P23-billion Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program – 4Ps for short – for the year 2012 of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). How could we be sure that the bigger 4Ps budget for 2013, more or less P46-billion, would be insulated from bigger, unexplained cut? It does not take an elephant memory to remember that DSWD head Dinky Soliman had occupied the same office during the GMA era. Already, the bogus tuwid na daan has engendered the notion that many more sacred cows are just around the corner. Remember when a vehicle owned by the President’s political adviser, Ronald Llamas, was caught carrying a high-powered firearm without permit? Just recently, Land Transportation Office (LTO) chief Virginia Torres landed on TV, playing slot machine at a casino. Like Llamas, she is a kabarilanor a cohort of the President in firearm target practice. The President has made no disciplinary action against them. The mantle of presidential protection has likewise covered defeated politicians facing malversation charges – say, Nereo Acosta and Grace Padaca. Not only has the President paid for their bail; he has appointed him and her administrator of Laguna Lake Development Authority and Comelec commissioner, respectively. By any stretch of eyesight, we can’t see the tuwid na daan here./PN
Posted on: Mon, 26 Aug 2013 05:07:03 +0000
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