A NATIONWIDE CALL: ABOLISH PORK! 

The controversy regarding the grave misuse of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) was rekindled with the recent ten-billion scam involving businesswoman, Janet LimNapoles who received 2.157.19 billion pesos from the Priority Development Assistance Fund of various legislators including Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, Sen. Ramon Revilla, Jr. and Sen.Jinggoy Estrada. According to the Commission on Audit, 6.156 billion pesos of the Priority Development Assistance Fund from 2007-2009, went to 82 questionable Non-Government Organizations (NGO’s). Ten of these Non-Government Organizations are presently linked to Napoles herself. Napoles,who is the owner of the JLN Group of Companies, is not a new name in the arena of PDAF scandals. Commission on Audit Chair, Grace Pulido-Tan, claims that Napoles’s name appeared in the 728 million peso fertilizer fund scam last March 2004 under the largest supplier of fertilizer, Jo-Chris Trading.However, under the list of businesses run by the JLN group of companies, Jo-Chris Trading existed as Jo-Chris Communications, Inc., a company engaged in communication supplies and equipment. Jo-Chris Communications, Inc. closed a year before the Senate probe was conducted in 2007.

Nevertheless, the Priority Development Assistance Fund, which comprises 24.9 billion pesos of the current two trillion national budget, has become an avenue for corruption and an opportunity to pocket and misuse public funds. Lawmakers, Therefore, thisPriority Development Assistance Fund must be abolished.

The Priority Development Assistance Fund, more commonly known as the pork barrel, originated from the time of US President William H. Taft when the Public Works Act was submitted. Prior to the Civil War, the term “pork barrel” was identified with barrels of salted pork slave owners provided their undernourished slaves during holidays. These slaves would then fight for these barrels and cause a stampede, resembling a rush for seeking subsidies among legislators. (as cited in Kawanaka, 2007)  Kawanaka (2007), then, describes pork barrel as funds for projects and programs planned by legislators for their local constituencies.

According to the US Congress from which this pork barrel originated, there are three definitions of pork barrel; the first being a bill or project requiring considerable government spending in a locality to the benefit of the legislator’s constituents; the second being a government appropriation, bill, or policy that supplies funds for local improvements designed to ingratiate legislators with their constituents; and the last beingthe act of using government funds on local projects that are primarily used to bring more money to a specific representative’s district.

According to Kawanaka (2007), the theories of pork barrel distributions can be classified into two categories. The first category emphasizes on the leader’s control over the rank-and-file members in congress through the use of pork barrel, while the second category focuses on the legislator’s status in congress as determining factors in the PDAF distributions.

The first category, which Kawanaka referred to as the ‘supply-side explanation’, explains how a person in power can easily control the behaviour of those who wish for pork barrel. Politicians, in pursuit of larger PDAF shares, would then be willing to join the ruling coalition. Abao (2013) says that pork barrel is not for development but for political alliance building.  Through pork barrel, the President himself can generate majority legislative support. This snakes down to the local governments and eventually, to the individual voter. According to Dr. Felix Muga (2011), “The PDAF can be used as a stick and carrot instrument of the administration to get the support of the legislators. It is known that it was used in the previous administration [of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo] to defeat the impeachment complaint against her. No cash allotment for PDAF if a representative is pro-impeachment.” Meanwhile, in President Benigno Aquino III’s term, budget secretary Butch Abad refused to release former opposition congresswomanMitos Magsaysay’s Priority Development Assistance Fund and justified it as a political reality. (Rellin, 2013) Thus, pork barrel distributions consolidate the president’s grip in the government’s legislative branch while maintaining the domination of political dynasties and enhancing the centralization of powers.

Kawanaka’s second category, which was the ‘demand-side explanation’, hypothesizes that position, seniority, influential status and socio-economic and political situation in a legislator’s district become significant in the distribution of PDAF shares.Because PDAF funds are usually spent on poverty-alleviation programs, underdeveloped areas should be given priority over legislators representing developed areas. However, as proven inthe recent Napoles scam, public funds are not allotted for the country’s necessary development. Rather, it is embezzled and misused through bogus organizations, ghost projects and employees, and syndicates. Unfortunately, larger pork barrel distributions are also provided to legislators representing developed areas in order for them to be re-elected.

In addition to that, the job of our legislators primarily focuses on making laws and budget appropriations. Santiago further says that “Senators and congressmen are expected to pass laws and exercise oversight functions over the Executive Department’s implementation of existing laws. We are not expected to build roads, bridges, and other infrastructure projects.” (as cited inMacaraig, 2013) Casino supports Santiago’s statement by agreeing that it is not in the job description of the lawmakers to initiate development projects. He also argues that the Priority Development Assistance Fund is not a necessity and should be abolished so that the lump sum would be distributed to other sectors or the national budget would decrease (as cited in Rellin, 2013)  

Through abolishing the Priority Development Assistance Funsd, we do not eradicate corruption itself, but we eliminate an unnecessary road towards it.  Without pork barrel, legislators will have to itemize their projects for House approval. By undergoing this tedious process, we cut down tools the legislature can utilize to manipulate and misuse public funds through the promotion of transparency. By abolishing pork barrel, we abolish a lot of things. We prevent the creation of more Janet Lim Napoleses and JLN Corporations. We prevent the act of pickpocketing in the legislature and disrupt the pillars set by supporters of political clans and families. By abolishing pork barrel, the government would eliminate an intrinsically anomalous practice and retain badly needed funds for development. Thus, budgeting becomes a question of “what” must be funded rather than “who” must be funded. (Abao, 2013)By abolishing pork barrel, we tear down plutocratic policy-making, white elephant projects and ghost employees waiting to misuse the proposed 25.2 million pesos worth of funds that should be channelled to severely underfunded projects, education, and different social services. By abolishing pork barrel, we uproot a tumor that is beyond all hope in this cancerous society, and dig our own path towards what this administration has always promised us but never gave us, “isang tuwid na daan.”

Sources:

Abao, C.V. (2013). Why rationalize bad practice? Abolish pork barrel. Rappler. Retrieved from http://www.rappler.com/thought-leaders/36635-abolish-pork-barrel 

Fonbuena, C. (2013). Napoles NGOs got P2.1B in ‘pork’ – COA. Rappler. Retrieved fromhttp://www.rappler.com/nation/36585-napoles-ngos-got-bilions-coa-report

Kawanaka, T. (2007). Who Eats the Most?: Quantitative Analysis of Pork Barrel Distribution in the Philippines.Academic Research Repository at the Institute of Developing Economics, 1-3.

Macaraig, A. (2013). Miriam to Congress: Phase out pork by 2016. Rappler. Retrieved fromhttp://www.rappler.com/nation/35282-miriam-phase-out-pork-2016

Monsod, S.C. (2013). Pork barrel: costs and benefits. Philippine Daily Inquirer.  Retrieved from http://opinion.inquirer.net/56945/pork-barrel-costs-and-benefits

Rellin, K. (2013). Power of the purse. Philippine Collegian,7, p. 8

Rufo, A.C. (2013). Bong, JPE, Jinggoy ‘suki’ to Napoles NGOs.Rappler. Retrieved fromhttp://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/36665-reville-enrile-estrada-suki-napoles-ngos