If you happen to visit the Senate one of these days, chances are you will read a common sign on the front door of the offices of some senators which reads: “No requests for projects, monetary donations or medical assistance being entertained.” Whether you’re there to seek assistance or not, you are bound to be dismayed, as you get the feeling that visitors like you are unwelcome. And you are tempted to ask this question: Aren’t the honorable senators duty-bound to lend a helping hand to their constituents in times of need?
If you’re in the shoes of the senators, you have no choice but to resort to such an unpleasant act even at the risk of becoming the butt of criticisms. For how can you extend help, in cash or in kind, to the people coming in droves to your office when you do not have the means to do so? Of course, not all the senators have this predicament. And they trace this predicament to the non-release of their pork barrel allocations.
Would you believe that almost all senators who are not allied with the administration are complaining that they have not been receiving their share of the pork barrel—officially called Priority Development Assistance Fund— amounting to P200 million each a year— for a long time now? Many of them, like Senators Rodolfo Biazon, Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Francis Pangilinan and Pia Cayetano, say their pork barrel releases have been withheld since 2005 or 2006. Neophyte Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Francis Escudero grumble that they have not gotten any funds for their pet projects since their election to the Upper Chamber. Even Senator Loren Legarda, a kumadre of President Arroyo, says that she has been unsuccessful in securing the release of her PDAF despite numerous requests and followups with the Budget Department.
Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. confirms the indefinite freeze on pork barrel projects of opposition senators. And this includes his own funding allocation. Villar says he has to dip from his own pocket to grant the requests for assistance by needy persons who troop to his office. He says he and his aides could not just tell the assistance seekers to find help elsewhere and leave empty-handed. No problem if you’re a billionaire like Villar.
Strictly speaking, it’s not the job of lawmakers to extend help to the people, especially in terms of projects like schools, farm-to-market roads and health clinics. That’s the job of the executive branch. But since this has been a practice in Congress since time immemorial, it is not that simple to tell the public to stop pestering the senators and congressmen with their requests for help. Villar says he sympathizes with his colleagues who are helpless in responding to requests for assistance for lack of resources. They rely on him to persuade Malacañang to do something about the problem. Apparently, he has done what is expected of him—with no tangible results.
Last week, the Palace announced that the President had ordered Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya, Jr. to speed up the release of the PDAF allocations of the legislators. Naturally, this piece of news was greeted with surprise and excitement by the opposition senators because they thought that this meant that the freeze on their pork barrel would be lifted.
Some senators instantly speculated that there was a move on the part of Malacañang to improve the strained relations with the Senate in view of the urgency of ratifying the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement. The fate of this controversial trade treaty remains uncertain because of the resistance of senators who doubt if it will be advantageous to the country. Then, there is the initiative to amend the Constitution to pave the way for the adoption of a federal system of government which the Palace is fully supporting.
In a situation where there is a lot of hostility and animosity between Malacañang and the Senate, how can the administration succeed in pushing these important initiatives?
When Secretary Andaya went to the Senate last Monday to present the proposed P1.4-trillion national budget for fiscal year 2009, he was asked to clarify the recent presidential directive on the release of pork barrel funds of lawmakers. He told newsmen that the release of the PDAF was not automatic but was dependent on whether it meets certain criteria and conditions set by Congress and Malacanang. “The PDAF is a source of funding for projects. It does not pertain to any particular public official, senator or congressman,” he explained.
Andaya did not deny that there are PDAF requests for lawmakers being rejected or withheld, but that is not because they are being discriminated against. Rather, it is because they did not qualify under those guidelines and did not fall among the government’s list of priorities. Simply speaking, the budget czar insisted that there was no intentional move to deprive the opposition lawmakers their right to identify and recommend projects requested and needed by their constituents.
If so, how come the complaints about the non-release of pork barrel funds are coming only from the ranks of the opposition senators and congressmen? How come their counterparts from the administration do not have to wrestle with this problem? Although the Palace refuses to admit this, the truth of the matter the pork barrel is being used by the Palace to get back at lawmakers who have been very vociferous in criticizing the ways she is running the country and who have actively supported moves to topple the Arroyo presidency. When he was the presidential chief-of-staff, Michael Defensor, in an apparent slip of the tongue, told a caucus of administration politicians and supporters that those who were involved in undermining and destabilizing the administration did not deserve to get their pork barrel share.
The tug-of-war over the pork barrel issue also stems from the conflicting views between Malacañang and Congress over the nature of this fund. The Palace insists that the President has the discretion and final say on the release of pork barrel funds. In contrast, lawmakers think that these funds are part and parcel of their rights and privileges and it is mandatory on the part of the executive branch to release them to intended beneficiaries after they were put in the annual general appropriations.
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