Six more senators give up 2014 PDAF

Six more senators have expressed readiness to give up their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) for 2014.

 

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, in her letter to Senate finance committee chairman Francis Escudero dated November 11, said she is “opposed to any “pork barrel” in any manner, shape, form, or under any name.”

 

She, however, said that she does not waive her right to inquire into past disbursements of the Priority Development Assistance Fund and the Disbursement Accelaration Program.

 

“I shall insist on providing the public with information about release of any 'secret' pork barrel to senators such as the DAP. I shall insist on the principle of equal distribution of any 'secret' pork barrel, if any shall be conceived by Senate leaders,” she said.

 

“If some senators shall get more funds than others, I shall inquire what criteria are used, and if these criteria are constitutional,” she added.

 

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, for his part, wanted to realign his P200 million annual allocation to fund scholarship programs in different colleges and state universities, medical assistance in government hospitals, and construction of barracks of soldiers and policemen.

 

“The Senate has removed PDAF from the 2014 budget. However, I decided to realign the supposed PDAF allocation to the Department of Health, Commission on Higher Education, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Armed Forces of the Philippines, and Philippine National Police, so that our constituents and advocacies won’t be compromised with the removal of PDAF,” he said in a press statement.

 

Based on the amendments proposed by Trillanes, his P200 million-PDAF will be redistributed to the following agencies:

 

• Department of Health (hospitalization and medical assistance) – P102,450,000

• Commission on Higher Education (scholarships to colleges and state universities nationwide) – P36,200,000

• Technical Education and Skills Development Authority – (Training for Work Scholarship Program) – P4,000,000

• Department of National Defense (construction/rehabilitation of barracks of the different service commands of the AFP) – P49,940,000

• Philippine National Police (construction/rehabilitation of barracks) – P7,400,000

 

He added that he could have opted to join the bandwagon of deleting the P200 million from the budget “but this will be an afterthought and will not achieve anything aside from trying to look good in the media. Worse, it will show utter insensitivity to the needs of the poor and the marginalized sectors.”

 

“Besides, public outrage is directed to those who stole from the public funds whereas, I have been transparent on where I allocated my previous PDAF, which is posted on my website (www.trillanes.com.ph); and based on the monitoring and evaluation of my office, our countrymen have greatly benefited from it,” he said.

 

In a letter received by the finance committee on November 7, neophyte senator Nancy Binay said she wanted her P200 million allocated be removed and the full amount deducted from the national budget for 2014.

 

“Considering the public's perception on the use of the PDAF and other lump sum items in the national budget coupled with the fact that the PDAF's validity is under judicial inquiry, it is my view that it is of paramount necessity for the Senate to take action on the issue of its continued inclusion in the appropriations law," she said.

 

In the same letter, she urged her colleagues to collectively withdraw the P25.24 billion PDAF allocation earmarked for senators from next year's General Appropriations Act (GAA).

 

“This signifies the Senate's firm commitment to its important duty of enacting a national budget based on transparency and accountability," she said.

 

The senator also called on the removal of the lump sum allocations of other government agencies in the national budget.

 

Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, in a letter dated November 6, said he is “foregoing my PDAF allocation for the remaining years of my term as senator of the Philippines.”

 

Sotto earlier said that he is giving P100 million of his 2013 PDAF allocation to the University of the Philippines (UP), other state universities and colleges (SUCs), and government specialty and regional hospitals.

 

Senator Sergio Osmeña also gave up his PDAF for 2013 and 2014.

 

"Please be informed that I am foregoing the P200 million Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) allocated to me as a member of the Senate for 2013. I am also foregoing my Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) for 2014," he said in a letter dated November 7.

 

Osmeña has yet to allocate his P200 million PDAF allocation for 2013.

 

Osmeña said he has been steadfast in his position to abolish the pork barrel allocation of senators since he first became a senator during the 10th Congress.

 

He said he already zealously pushed for the abolition of the Congressional Countrywide Development Fund (CDF), the predecessor of what is now popularly known as the PDAF, or the 'pork barrel' funds.

 

During the plenary voting on the proposed 1997 national budget on December 16, 1996, Osmeña took the floor and said that "pork barrel is nothing but a blank check that is given to certain people for political purposes or to expand their political base.”

 

He said then: "Senators do not need CIAs (Congressional Initiative Allowances)... because we are not beholden to any small district or particular constituency. If the people judge us, they judge us as a whole on our performance in the Senate... What I am saying is that the perception of the public is that somehow may kalokohan ito. Since we don't need it, perhaps it would be good to eliminate it completely as a whole."

 

Earlier, Senate President Franklin Drilon, Senators Escudero, Aquilino “Koko' Pimentel III and Grace Poe said they have formally indicated letting go of their pork barrel funds.

 

The PDAF has triggered widespread public debate since the National Bureau of Investigation started its probe on an the alleged scam involving controversial businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.

 

Napoles allegedly funneled pork barrel funds to bogus non-government organizations with the help of lawmakers and heads of implementing agencies, all of whom supposedly got kickbacks from the scheme.

 

In September, plunder and other criminal complaints were filed against a number of personalities, among them Napoles, Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Juan Ponce Enrile and Ramon Revilla Jr. for their alleged involvement in the pork barrel scam.

 

The Supreme Court has issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the release of the remaining PDAF of lawmakers in the 2013 national budget, in response to petitions filed by groups and individuals questioning its constitutionality. —KG, GMA News