What are allocable funds, said to be new pork worse than PDAF?

The hearings of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee and those related to the national budget brought to the fore the term allocable funds, which Sen. Panfilo Lacson has criticized as worse than the outlawed Priority Development Assistance Fund or congressional pork.

What are allocable funds?

According to Sandra Aguinaldo's report on "24 Oras," allocable funds are the Department of Public Works and Highways' discretionary funds assigned to each congressional district.

These are offered to lawmakers who may choose projects from a menu provided by district engineers.

The legislators' choice projects are then included in the National Expenditure Program, the so-called President's Budget, submitted to Congress for deliberation and scrutiny.

Lacson called the allocable funds the "new pork barrel" because of the lawmakers' discretion in which projects should be funded under the DPWH budget.

"Talagang di hamak na mas masama. kasi yung dating pork nung legal pa, naka-limit yung bawat senador P200 million. 'Yung sa house naman, I think 70 million," Lacson said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB, referring to the Priority Development Assistance Fund allocations, which the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional in 2013.

"Lalong napasama kasi unconstitutional, nawalan ng ceiling kasi pinag uusapan na natin 10 billion, 10 billion, 5 billion ganun na yung naging standard," he added.

Are the lawmakers and DPWH officials the ones conspiring to get kickbacks from allocable funds?

"Totoo sila nag uusap," Lacson said.

"Minsan nag aadvance na allocable pa lang nep pa lang may advance na yung contractor na 10 percent, ibig sabihin hindi pa nagdedeliberate both hosues, hindi pa napapasa ang batgas tukoy na nila ang contractor," he added.

Before a Senate hearing, then-DPWH Sec. Manuel Bonoan said the department has a formula for how much each congressional district would receive in terms of allocable funds for infrastructure.

It appears that only a few in the DPWH know the formula.

"Sir, yung allocable department po ang may formula nun hindi district office. Department po yung nagfo-formulate," said former Bulcan first engineering district chief Henry Alcantara in a congressional inquiry. –NB, GMA Integrated News