MANILA – The coalition People’s Initiative Against Pork Barrel lauded Senator Miriam Santiago’s exposé and strong stand against the perpetuation of the pork barrel system in the proposed 2015 budget of P2.6 trillion, the biggest in the country’s history.
PIAP also urged the public to support the proposed “Act Abolishing the Pork Barrel System” via initiatives and referendum.
Monsignor Romualdo Kintanar, PIAP co-chairman, said it was good that Santiago took up the advocacy against the pork barrel and the institutionalization of Disbursement Acceleration Program-like definition of savings in the national budget.
“Her findings and revelations strengthen our unity and resolve to push through with the people’s initiative as the only viable means to counter the recurring insensitiveness to the urgent call for good governance,” he said.
“We hope that this would help enlighten many people who have mistakenly concluded that the pork barrel system is already gone because of the Supreme Court rulings against the Priority Development Assistance Fund and the Disbursement Acceleration Program.”
Sister Mary John Mananzan, also a co-chairwoman of PIAP, denounced the move of the Aquino administration to circumvent Supreme Court rulings against the PDAF and DAP by inserting P37 billion lump sum funds for legislators in the budget of various government agencies and by introducing patently wrong definition of savings similar to DAP.
Mananzan said that aside from legislators pork and DAP-like savings in the 2015 budget, hundreds of billions of lump sum discretionary or pork barrel funds remains in the hand of the President, including off-budget items such as Malampaya Fund, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and the Road User’s Fund, should be condemned.
Atty. Alex Lacson, spokesperson of PIAP, emphasized the need to pass the proposed Act Abolishing the Pork Barrel System via people’s initiative.
He said the proposed Act Abolishing the Pork Barrel System will prohibit and criminalize appropriation, allocation and release of presidential and congressional pork barrel funds.
Under the proposed law, pork barrel is defined as lump sum discretionary funds the discretion to determine the type of projects or programs, implementer and beneficiaries lie solely with the President, his subordinates and legislators.
“Once approved in a referendum, the Act Abolishing the Pork Barrel System can only be amended or repealed via people’s initiative and referendum. The people’s initiative prohibits the President and Congress to propose and approve annual budgets that contains lump sum funds except for disaster response, intelligence funds of the Armed Forces and Philippine National Police and contingency fund,” Lacson said. (Mindanao Examiner)
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