CBCP president supports people’s initiative vs. pork barrel

Philippine Catholic bishops over the weekend voiced support for moves for a people's initiative seeking to abolish the pork barrel system.

Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines president and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said the pork system can be considered an unjust use of public funds.

“All measures our citizens take, provided these are moral, peaceful and lawful, aimed at curbing corruption and the irresponsible use of public funds have our full support,” an article posted on the CBCP news site quoted Villegas as saying.

The CBCP said Villegas' statement stemmed from moves in Congress to revise the Supreme Court’s constitutional interpretation of “savings.”

According to the CBCP, a Cebu-based anti-pork coalition is now gathering signatures for a people’s initiative to pass a law that would outlaw the pork barrel system.

Msgr. Romulo Kintanar of the Cebu Coalition Against the Pork Barrel System said they are aiming to get 5.4 million signatures or 10 percent of the total voting population.

The CBCP added the People’s Initiative Against the Pork Barrel (PIAP) plans to launch a signature campaign at a people’s congress in Cebu City on August 23.

Expected to attend are Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma and former Chief Justice Reynato Puno.

Earlier, the high court declared the Priority Development Assistance Fund as unconstitutional, and the Disbursement Acceleration Program as partially unconstitutional.

But Villegas said the CBCP had received information about "attempts to perpetuate the system through the appropriation of lump sums in the national budget under various pretexts.”

“We therefore fully endorse the people’s initiative aimed at legislating the proscription of funds made available to officials and subject to their discretion alone,” he said.

Meanwhile, the bishops criticized the practice of classifying sizable amounts of public money as “intelligence funds” and thus beyond the scope of regular audits.

“’You cannot serve both God and money’. We choose to serve God and we cannot countenance the idolization of money, especially when it takes the form of unfettered access to the money of the people,” he said. — Joel Locsin /LBG, GMA News