House members allocate P15-B ‘pork’ for anti-poverty program

President Arroyo’s anti-poverty program is expected to get a P15.3-billion boost after 201 of the 236 members of the House of Representatives agreed to allocate the "bulk" of their pork barrel funds to a more specific cause, Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. said yesterday.

"This will show our people that we can commit the pork barrel to a decisive purpose," said De Venecia, whose fourth bid for the speakership was backed by the President last Friday night.

The P15.3 billion will be derived from the P65-million pork barrel, also known as the countrywide development fund, allocated for each congressman to fund projects for his or her district like public works and infrastructure, among other undertakings.

"We have the commitment of 85 percent of our colleagues in the House to give bulk of their pork barrel to programs in support of President Arroyo’s 10-point agenda," De Venecia said, referring to the programs the President vowed to accomplish within the next six years that she will be in office.

Among the President’s priorities are the creation of six million to 10 million jobs during her term, educational reforms, and water and electricity generation programs.

De Venecia’s ally, Davao City Rep. Prospero Nograles, expressed hope that their counterparts in the Senate will follow suit in realigning their pork barrel allocations. Each senator has P200 million a year in the so-called Countryside Development Fund.

These anti-poverty funds, according to De Venecia, may be used for the building of roads and post-harvest facilities as well as classrooms and the propagation of agribusiness to promote hybrid rice and corn and other high-value crops.

De Venecia also disclosed that Mrs. Arroyo will convene the Legislative-Executive
Development Advisory Council on Tuesday — a day after her state of the nation address before the joint opening of Congress — to bring to focus the government’s fight against poverty among the 20 poorest provinces across the country.

De Venecia said that once the House reorganization is completed, the lower chamber will focus its efforts and functions on "helping ensure the success of the President’s programs."

"It means among other things creation of jobs, building a network of infrastructures and bringing computer education to schools," he said. "The congressmen will seize the high road and follow the President’s lead."

De Venecia said they will enact legislations to address the perennial poverty problem, "raise agricultural output, improve education, including those in modern communications technology and create jobs for millions of urban and rural poor."

The projects that could be built using the pork barrel, he noted, include farm-to-market roads, programs related to peace process and other agri-business ventures. It could also finance three million enterprenurial programs through micro-finance credits, De Venecia added.