The ‘pork barrel’ and who got their releases in 2012

The nation has been disgusted by the pork barrel scandal for some time now. The pork barrel funds of some legislators appear to have been siphoned off to some fictitious NGOs with high sounding names and into the big pocket of one enterprising scam artist. According to an investigation conducted by the government (and reported widely in the media) some P10 billion of PDAF (Priority Development Assistance Fund) money, the program financed by pork barrel, that had been disbursed over some years, had been embezzled.

The scandal is high political drama. It is a tinderbox for public outrage and it could hurt some major politicians. The stakes are high for them. The march in the Luneta decrying the pork barrel system was stoked by public media reports on the scandal and by the social media storm that followed.

In response to this outcry, President Aquino has indicated that he will reform the system. Initially, his statement was that he would abolish the pork barrel system. It is not clear how the system will change yet.

In fact, little will be lost and a lot will be gained if the system is abolished and the funds directed to better targeted programs. To do a good job, the government needs to reform the way legislators are rewarded. This topic calls for a different occasion than this.

“The pork barrel gravy train.” Almost everyone knows or has heard that the pork barrel system is riddled with corruption. A recent interview on TV of Senator Panfilo Lacson – one senator who has refused to use his pork barrel allocation – was very illuminating. When he said, “I don’t accept commission,” he indirectly revealed that it is standard practice that some legislators accept commission on their allocation and therefore directly benefit from it.

The pork barrel is allocated to legislators to help address immediate social and economic needs of their constituencies. Each congressman is allotted P70 million per year and each senator, P200 million. The ultimate beneficiaries are supposed to be the legislator’s constituency, yet there seems to be a substantial gravy train that substantially cut down those benefits.

How much of the project cost is creamed off in terms of commissions paid is a mystery that only those close to the system would know in its detail. One piece of rough information is provided by Andres Bautista, a columnist in this paper, who wrote:

I was … told by a former member of the House of Representatives that the standard operating commission (s.o.c.) received by an erring lawmaker for “hard” projects such as roads, bridges and classrooms ranges from 10 to 30 percent. “Semi-hard” projects such as donation of medical supplies or even the provision of scholarships can supposedly fetch an s.o.c. of 30 to 50 percent with the pharmaceutical firm or school providing the kickback. The alleged s.o.c. for “soft” projects such as soap and candle making or river dredging is even higher.  Finally, the entire pork barrel allocation is divided among the lawmaker, the facilitators from the implementing agency and the organizers of the conduit foundation for completely fictitious projects

Some legislators are very quiet during this controversy and a few are vocal. Those who found themselves accused of malpractice are promising more drama and political discussion. It seems to be one of the few issues in which there appears to be almost multi-party unanimous support.

To be further informed, we have to know more about who get their releases of pork. Actually, almost all legislators are getting their allocations released to them. The exceptions are those who are under a cloud – either they are out of political favor or under some problems. In short, it may be that the system is “working” for them. The pork is apparently as popular to the party list congressmen as it is to the traditional legislator.

“Who got their pork barrel releases in 2012?” Greater detail is in order. I accessed the user friendly website of the Department of the Budget to get more information. Easily, I was able extract the releases of pork for all legislators for 2012 and 2013. For brevity, I report on the 2012 budget releases.

The total amount of releases in 2012 of pork amounted to P24.2 billion, of which P20.1 billion went to the lower house and P4 billion to the Upper House. The average releases for each legislator (in million pesos) were: District congressman P70.5 million; Party-list congressman, P65.2 million; and senators, P179.5 million.

Each legislator could use the previous year’s unused allocations as continuing allocation for later years. Thus, the pork release in a given year can exceed the allotments for any given year.

23 senators. The six highest amount of pork releases, were: Pia Cayetano (P258 million); Alan Peter Cayetano (P257 million); Antonio Trillanes IV (P254 million); Teofisto Guingona III (P229 million); Francis M. Pangilinan (P227 million); and Loren Legarda (P207 million).

Those who received the lowest releases were: Aquilino Pimentel III (P59 million); Joker P. Arroyo (0); and Panfilo Lacson (0). As further note, Pimentel’s releases for 2013 so far (at P195 million), however, are the highest by collecting his continuing allocations (that amounted to P192.7 million).

239 District Congressmen: Among the district representatives, the highest recipients of pork releases were (in million pesos): Ruben Ecleo Jr., Dinagat Island (P137 million); Thelma Almario, Davao Or., 2nd, (P128 million); Dakila Carlo Cua, Quirino, (P120 million); Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Pampanga (P109 million); Al Francis Bichara, Albay 2nd, (P105 million); Ma. Georgina De Venecia, Pangasinan 4th, (P105 million); and Czarina Umali, N.Ecija 3rd, (105 million).

Those congressmen who received the lowest allocations were: Rodolfo Farinas, Ilocos No. 1st, (P20 million); Diosdado Ignacio Arroyo, Camarines Sur 2nd, (0); Ignacio Arroyo, Negros Oc. 5th, (0); and Augusto Syjuco Jr., Iloilo 2nd, (0).

54 Party List Congressmen: The following got the highest releases: Cresente Paez, Coop Natco, (P105 million); Isidro Q. Lico, Ating Coop, (P90 million); Mariano U. Plamonte, A Teacher, (P85 million); Sharon Garin, Aambis OWA, (P84 million); and Mark Sambar, PBA, (P78 million).

The Party list congressmen who got the lowest allocations were: Wesllie T. Gachalian, Alay Buhay, (P14 million); Juan Miguel Macapagal Arroyo, Ang Galing, (0); and Solaiman Pangandaman, AA Kasosyo (0).

It would seem that all legislators are using their appropriations fully. How they use them and for what projects they are used is as varied as it is difficult to fully account for them.

My email is: [email protected]. Visit this site for more information, feedback and commentary: http://econ.upd.edu.ph/gpsicat/