MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Aug. 23, 2013) – Two Filipino lawmakers branded as “misleading” President Benigno Aquino’s statement on the abolition of the controversial Priority Development Assistance Fund given to legislators.
Representatives Neri Colmenares and Carlos Zarate said Aquino merely wanted to change how the pork barrel is called, but the PDAF will still be with the legislators – P70 million annually for members of Congress and P200 million for each senator.
“Looking at President Aquino’s statement, he still stubbornly refuse to abolish pork barrel by merely changing the name PDAF and putting in regulations like congressmen will have to choose from a list of projects to choose from and limiting it to the district of the congressman concerned, practically transforming it into an itemized pork barrel system,” Colmenares said.
He said Aquino’s surprising statement came ahead of planned rallies in the country by various civil society groups and citizens.
“People will be misleading into thinking that there is no need for the rally. Firstly, the pork barrel system was called then called Countrywide Development Fund and renamed this to PDAF, but the corruption and patronage politics it spawns remain no matter how much it is regulated. Secondly, Aquino failed to mention his larger presidential pork barrel which is at least P312 billion this year,” Colmenares said.
Zarate said the President was clearly rattled by the outrage and widespread calls from the public to totally abolish the PDAF following a scandal involving fictitious projects by some lawmakers.
“President Aquino is trying to jump the gun on the growing people’s outrage on the scourge that is the pork barrel system. His reluctant decision to supposedly abolish the PDAF was, first and foremost designed to shield his administration from the people’s anger towards its shameless defense of this corrupt patronage system. President Aquino’s decision was designed to pre-empt the peoples’ march,” he said.
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