MANILA, Philippines – Senators may give up their individual Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) due to widening public uproar against it after the P10-billion pork barrel scam was exposed, Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero, chairman of the Senate finance committee, said Sunday.
“Sa tingin ko, ito ang pinakamalapit sa katotohanan na puwede nang maalis ang PDAF dahil sa naglalabasang balita…at least sa parte ng Senado, hindi man sa Kamara (In my view, this is the closest we can get to the reality of abolishing the PDAF due to the news accounts…at least for the Senate, if not for the Lower House),” Escudero said in a radio interview.
“Bilang halal ng bayan, obligasyon namin na ang panawagan ng taumbayan ay dalhin sa Senado, dalhin sa Kongreso kung anuman ang boses at opinion ng ating kababayan, at hindi ang personal na opinion (As elected officials, we are obliged to bring the call of the people, not our personal opinions, to the Senate, to Congress),” he added.
While Escudero said he does not want to ask his colleagues to forego their individual pork barrel, the mood among his colleagues is going in that direction.
On the position of House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte that congressmen cannot give up their pork barrel because they need these funds for their projects in their legislative districts, the senator said: “Hayaan mo lang tumayo ang bawat bahay sa paninindigan at prinsipyo nila (Let each House stands by their belief and principles).”
He encouraged the public to sustain the call for the abolition of pork barrel so that lawmakers may realize what their constituents want.
“Tao lamang kaming mga mambabatas na kinakantiyawan ng sambayanan, pakinggan kaya natin ang punto ng sambayanan kung ano ba ang gusto nila, ito ba ang dapat gawin (We are simply individuals who are being castigated by the people. Why not listen to the people about what they want, what needs to be done)?” he asked.
“Kung sensitibo kaming mga kinatawan, maliwanag naman ang dapat puntahan ng isyung ito (If we the representatives are sensitive, it is clear where this issue is headed),” he added.
Pre-, post-audit, and other reforms on PDAF
If the pork barrel funds are still intact in the 2014 national budget, Escudero said his committee might include a provision in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for a pre- and post-audit by the Commission on Audit (COA) on all releases.
“We are studying the possibility of requesting COA to initiate a pre- and post-audit on all PDAF releases. Since the audit agency is a constitutional body, we cannot impose on them but only request,” he said.
Escudero said he would rather that no public funds are coursed through non-government organizations, and limited only to government agencies and instrumentalities. He said this would promote accountability.
“Hindi puwedeng dating gawi na lamang na parang walang nangyari at wawalisin sa ilalim ng carpet. Hindi na pupuwede. Dapat harapin at i-address ito ng mga mambabatas (The old ways cannot stand as if nothing happened and all these will be swept under the rug. That cannot be. Lawmakers must face and address this issue),” he said.
