Palace, Mindanao lawmakers set up P500-M pork barrel

Fifty Mindanao congressmen and Malacañang will put up P500 million for the emergency purchase of telecommunications and transportation equipment and even the recruitment of additional militiamen to secure vital installations and communities from terror attacks, Speaker Jose de Venecia said yesterday.

In a press briefing, De Venecia dubbed the pool as the Special Peace and Order Fund, where each congressman will contribute P5 million from their pork barrel funds while the Office of the President will provide counterpart funding.

"We want to see a secure and safe Christian, Muslim and lumad Mindanao," said De Venecia, who also set aside P5 million from his congressional funds.

He said he made the proposal to put up the fund after a three-hour closed-door briefing with top military and police officials with Mindanao legislators Monday afternoon.

The money, he said, could also be used to fund a reward system for civilians who provide information that would lead to the capture or neutralization of terrorists.

He said he immediately called up President Arroyo after the lawmakers agreed to put up the fund, and she agreed to include it in the first tranche of release from the Department of Budget and Management once the 2003 national budget is approved.

Davao Oriental Rep. Mayo Almario, chairman of the committee on Mindanao affairs, would work to include the special fund as a permanent item in the budget.

He said there are numerous installations, churches, mosques, municipal halls, schools, major private establishments and even malls, that need to be protected by an already thinly spread military and police force in Mindanao.

He noted that there are at least 5,000 power transmission towers in Mindanao, 17 of which have already been bombed.

Zamboanga City Rep. Celso Lobregat said if all the transmission towers were to be secured by government forces, almost none would be left to guard other installations.

The Armed Forces has deployed about 50 percent of its forces in Mindanao but has repeatedly complained that it is not enough to contain various rebel groups in the island.

Davao City Rep. Prospero Nograles, whose district was hit by a deadly bomb attack last week, said the move would compel Mindanao congressmen to work more closely with local government units. — Paolo Romero