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Monday, JulY 15, 2019

Alan says'pork-free'
budget possible if...
BY WENDELL VIGIUA
THE devil is in the details.
Presumptive speaker Alan Pe-
ter Cayetano wants Congfess to
clearly defioe what "pork barrel"
allocations are to be able to rid
the annual national budget of the
budgetary item which the Supreme
Court has declated illegal in 2014.
Cayetano said he shares Sen.
Parfilo Lacson's stand against the
pork barrel srstem.
- "Oo that point, I will agree rrith
Sen- I acson that we should rcmove
all kinds of po* (fiom
the annual
natiooal budget)," Cayetano said
in a live video he posted on his
Facebook page.
Caretano said the House and
the Seoate should {irst be able to
cleadl- de6ne what is considered
"pork" because there are many
legitimate government Proiects
rlut oeed to be funded, especially
public works.
'"Ihat doesrit mean that we'll
abolish all government proiects
in every cornet of the coultry,
right? Let's deiine pork clearly
because if s-e create hospitals,
btidges, ports and relocation
centets for trphoon-prone areas
like Samar, Bicol and Batanes, is
thatpork? Or are those legitimate
projects that our people need?"
he asked.
In its 2014 decision, the Supreme
Court prohibited lawmakers "to
intervene, dssume or patticipate in
any of the r arious post:enactment
stages of the budget execution."
This means las'rnaken cannot
identify or propose plojects to
be funded by the diffetent de
partments and agencies once the
national budget ot the General
Appropriations Act (GAA) has
been enacted. !
The push to temove the "Potk '
barrel" s,;stem in the budget pro-
cess rras prompted by relendess
rcports of cottuption, a kick-off
to allegations of wide scale bribe4;
in the lobb,r'ing fqr government
contracts.
The bigger the allocation for
a particular project, the bigger
See ALAN ) Page Bl

the opportunity fot. graft and
cotruption since conffactors ate
known to offer hefty commissions
in exchange fot coroering h,rge
codEacts.
Before the High Couds ruling
senatom and congtessmen identi-
6ed prdjects to be fur:ded bY the
Priority Development Assistance
Fund GDAD after the national
budget is passed, which made the
system ptone to abuse because
of tie level of discretion given to
lawmakers.
But even after the SC Prohibi-
tion, some la.vmakets have still
been able to obtain unnecessarily
huge allocadons for their districts
duting budget deliberations, which
some critics claim can ate still con-
sidered "potk."
Last year, Lacson said all.292
congressmen wete set to fecetve a
minimum of P160 million in Potk
funds under the 2019 budget.
Lacson had Pointed out then
that when pork was not Yet out-
lawed, each congressman received
onlv at least P60 million for theit
disfocts while a senator gets P200
million.
Flbweftq now *rat it is Prohib-
ited by the Supreme Coutt, he said
each congressman is entided to
P160 million.
Iust before the House aPProved
ttri 2019 budget last yeat, the lead-
ership of *ren SPeaker Gloria Ar-
royo, a former ptesident. was able
to discovet a P75 billion insertioq
which they b)amed to then Budget
Secreury Benjamin Diokno.
l)ioLno later snubbed the House
commiftee on rules' hearings on
the issue, his alleged manipulatioo
of the annual national budget and
the coflflictof interest he 'was ac-
cused of committing for allegedlY
giviog undue advantage to Aremar
Construction which is owned bY
the family of the in-lavrs of his
daughter Chatlotte.
Then maioriry leader Rolando
Andaya accused Diokno of fa-
voring favoring tlle Province of,
Sotsogon by giving it too many
f ood-control Projects.
Diokno's daughter Charlotte is
married to Romeo 'Jojo" SikagJr'
the son of Sorsogon Vice Gover-
nor Estet Hamor vzith a Ptevious
Partner.

*#sAou)tr i/slD\e I