By NESTOR MATA
MALAYA
MALAYA
‘That’s how President Aquino’s “Discretionary Funds,” which are “prone to corruption and inequity,” were called by former National Treasurer Leonor Briones.’
THE surrender, detention, and special treatment of Janet Lim Napoles, who is the central figure in the scandalous hijacking of the people’s money, will not put end to the probe of billions in “pork barrels” in the hands of lawmakers, nor will it stop the anti-pork rally by social media groups.
A much bigger, broader, stronger multi-sectoral public demonstration than the “Million People March” of 100,000 at the Luneta last week will be staged next week, September 11, at the EDSA Shrine, the same historic place where two People’s Power uprisings led to the ouster of two presidents of the Republic.
This time around the main focus of the public outrage will be President Aquino’s so-called “discretionary funds” which has been branded, in derision, as “the mother of all pork barrels” by former National Treasurer Leonor Briones, lead convenor of Social Watch Philippines, an alliance of some 100 civil society organizations. She said they will join the next protest rally because Aquino’s claim that he has no pork barrel was completely untrue.
These funds, as Briones put it so authoritatively, were “invisible“ in the National Budget. For instance, she said, the lawmakers’ P27 billion in pork barrel funds for 2014 were still included in the President’s P310.1 billion “Special Purpose Fund” which is a lump sum appropriation.
Calling for the complete and immediate abolition of President Aquino’s pork barrel, Briones exhorted the public “to be very militant against illusionary reforms on the budget and lack of political will to end corruption”, such as changing how the pork barrel is called from “Development Fund” to “Congressional Initiatives” to “Priority Development Assistance Fund(PDAF),” and now they are saying this has been abolished, but the truth is the same funds remain as allocations to congressmen.
The President’s new plans still include handing over P27 billion to the congressmen, Briones revealed, the release of which can be based on the “sole discretion of the President” while congressmen will have the “sole decision” which projects will be implemented. She said “the fund remains a political tool highly prone to corruption and aggravates inequity. Those who are not allies of the President may not receive their pork barrel even if the congressional district is very poor and in dire need of funds to uplift the quality of life of people’s lives!”
In other words, congressmen will give priority to projects in their bailiwicks, not necessarily in poor communities that need it most!
Not only this, Briones revealed that “the pork barrel is just a portion of the P310.1 billion in special purpose fund of the President, which is full of vague budgetary allotments. This includes billions of allocations to budgetary support to government corporations, allocation to local government units, miscellaneous personnel benefits fund, retirement benefits fund, and priority social and economic projects fund.
The President’s National Expenditure Program, Briones revealed further, showed that the President has the sole discretion over P1 trillion in public funds, including budgetary million as allocations of P45.7 billion to government corporations; P19.7 billion to local government units; P7.5 billion Calamity Fund; P1 billion Contingency Fund; P1 billion to the Department of Education’s Building Program; P2.475 billion Government Fund; P4.8 billion international commitments; P80.7 billion miscellaneous personnel benefits; P120.5 billion Pension and Gratuity Fund; P27 billion PDAF or lawmakers’ barrel pork; and P400 illion feasibility studies.
The special purpose funds, according to the former National Treasurer, “weaken the ability of departments and agencies to strategically program spending because the Congress-approved budget becomes distorted. The amount allocated to agencies to deliver services to the poor becomes smaller because other funds for programs they are supposed to implement are lodged under the special purpose fund.”
Briones and her Social Watch group also urged a review of “invisible” budgets that are not included in the National Budget, such as the remittances from government-owned and controlled corporations like the PAGCOR and the Philippine Charity Sweepstake Office.
“If President Aquino is sincere with his ‘Straight Path’ policy, Briones concluded, “he should abolish these budget items and use them for long term social services and poverty alleviation programs. Billions of people are homeless, hungry, jobless, have no access to health care and their children out of school. All we need is political will from the President so that public funds will be used to serve the un-served and reach the un-reached!”
Yes, indeed, the loud, unmistakably clear message of the people is that they are against the entire pork barrel that they see as an insidious system by which the President and lawmakers have at their disposal hundreds of millions of pesos in public funds and to siphon into their own pockets. That’s why they all hollering, “Scrap the pork barrel system”!
Failure to heed their cry, Mr. President, could very well usher in a deluge of bigger and bigger and bigger protest actions to come nationwide!
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Quote of the Day: “Those who fail to remember the past are soon condemned to relive it!” – George Santayana
Thought of the Day: The voice of the people is the voice of God! (Vox populi vox Dei!) – Alexander Pope
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