I thought President Aquino was done blaming all the country’s troubles on the previous administration. But obviously, the blame game continues, and will probably go on for the duration of his term.
After a laudable State-of-the-Nation Address in July in which he did not blame the Arroyo administration for the country’s ills for the first time and instead spelled out his agenda for the rest of his term, Aquino is at it again.
Blaming Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for the rampant misuse of the Priority Assistance Development Fund (PADF), Aquino said on national television: “What has outraged our people was the collusion among a former President ready to trade favors just to remain in power, legislators, and members of the bureaucracy who were willing to conspire, enabled by a passive and indifferent citizenry. All these factors put together make the PDAF prone to abuse.”
And yet, it is common knowledge that under his administration, the pork barrel fund has almost tripled from the fund allocation during the term of Arroyo. If he has not abused it, he has abetted its misuse. When asked why the pork barrel allocation for the senators, congressmen and for his own office had been increased despite doubts that the funds are abused and misused, Aquino proclaimed in his usual self-righteous tone that it is because his administration is more transparent now.
The next day, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, which broke the reports on the P10-billion pork barrel scam based on the revelations of a former aide of scam suspect Janet Lim Napoles, reported that the misuse of the pork barrel continued under Aquino’s watch with huge amounts being funneled into bogus non-government organizations (NGOs).
Citing public documents, the report said that between 2010 and 2012, some P500 million in PDAF funds went to fake NGOs through the Philippine Forest Corp., the office of Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala and National Agribusiness Corp. (Nabcor).
An earlier COA report, which confirmed Inquirer’s series of articles on the Napoles pork scam, said at least 12 senators and around 180 congressmen, through the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), funneled P6.156 billion in pork barrel funds to 82 questionable non-government organizations (NGOs) from 2007 to 2009, 10 of which had links to Napoles, while six had links to sponsoring lawmakers through relatives.
The COA report covered only the period covering the last two years of the Arroyo administration, raising suspicions that Aquino is launching another of his numerous witch hunts in an effort to cover his own government’s failure to curb corruption.
When Aquino suddenly declared “it is time to abolish the PDAF” after steadfastly defending and justifying it for weeks, the move was immediately seen as an effort to douse cold water on the raging nationwide anger over the pork barrel scam and to preempt a planned million people march at the Luneta on Monday.
The motive was quite obvious, and instead of being lauded for “listening to the people,” the move only raised doubts on the sincerity and credibility of his reform agenda. In various statements and social network posts, angry citizens said Aquino was not sincere in his statements because he is abolishing the PDAF, but the pork barrel shall continue in another form or another name.
That the pork barrel system would not disappear under the Aquino administration became apparent when Budget Secretary Florencio Abad clarified that the P25.2-billion PDAF fund would still be in the proposed P2.268-trillion national budget for 2014, but the lawmakers will have to name specific projects as line-item appropriations in the budget.
Aquino himself is not giving up his whopping P1-trillion pork, officially known as the President’s Special Fund (PSF), which is almost half of the entire national budget. The lump sum fund effectively removes the constitutionally mandated power of the purse from Congress for half of the national budget because this fund is not subject to congressional scrutiny.
Why the President would need that tremendous amount for contingency fund is beyond me. Certainly, by allocating even half of that amount to put up the infrastructure needed, the need for contingency funds would be drastically reduced. For example, if part of the fund would be allocated by Congress to dredge the esteros and improve the flood control system, then contingencies arising from floods would be greatly reduced. If a sizeable amount of that fund is allocated by Congress to purchase needed equipment to more accurately forecast the path of a storm, then the need for calamity funds could be reduced.
With the President holding P1-trillion in discretionary funds, what will stop him from disbursing it to favored projects of senators and congressmen willing to do his bidding? Assuming that he is as clean as an angel, how can he effectively monitor the disbursements of such a huge amount knowing that less-angelic bureaucrats abound in the various agencies that handle the funds?
If Aquino is really sincere about his campaign to curb corruption, why has he refused to push the proposed Freedom of Information Act that would boost transparency and accountability in government?
In hopes of preempting the August 26 march, Aquino again made several promises – that the government would be more transparent in the handling of the people’s money, including the disbursement of whatever name or form the prok barrel would be known, and that there would be convictions in the pork barrel scam before the end of his term, etc. But the people are tired of promises. They want action and they want it now.
Aquino should heed the call of Vice President Jojo Binay to provide a full accounting of all funds disbursed under the PDAF, both under the Arroyo and Aquino administrations. In addition, the President should also provide a full accounting of his own pork barrel since he assumed office.
If he wants to appease the people and regain his credibility, Aquino should abolish the P25-billion lump sum appropriation under the PDAF and reallocate the fund for specific projects under the various government agencies, such as the departments of education, public works and highways, agriculture, etc. Let these agencies identify the projects needed in various congressional districts, provinces, cities and other localities in consultation with the governors, mayors and congressmen. This way, all the budget allocations would undergo the rigorous scrutiny of Congress and the public.
More importantly, Aquino has to exercise his full powers — in the same manner that he moved mountains to impeach Chief Justice Renato Corona — to facilitate the arrest and prosecution of the suspects and accomplices in the P10-billion pork barrel scam, even if it means tearing down his own Liberal Party.
This government can’t even find Napoles; how can it claim to dismantle corruption in the country that has been institutionalized through decades of abuse by its leaders and the indifference of its people?
Find and jail Napoles and company first, then tell us you’re ready to reform the government.
(valabelgas@aol.com)