No politics in pork barrel distribution - Palace

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang yesterday assured that the distribution of the Priority Development Assistance Fund, also known as pork barrel fund, among lawmakers would not be politicized.

The Palace has ordered the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to recall the P10.61 billion in pork barrel funds released by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to her allies in the House of Representatives.  

Presidential Communications Group Secretary Herminio Coloma said the funds were ordered withdrawn because of austerity measures.

“We are not getting enough from tax revenues to fund all the government’s expenditures. In any business or any organization, there must be a balance on the entry and the release of money,” Coloma said.

He said the funds were withdrawn because there are more important programs and projects to fund.

“What we are doing is not political discrimination, this does not have any political color,” Coloma said.

President Aquino had promised all lawmakers would get their fair share of pork barrel funds.

The status of the P10.6 billion in pork barrel funds, however, is yet to be determined because DPWH has not yet submitted a report three weeks after it received the order. 

“It (DPWH) still has to report to us how much has been obligated,” Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said in a text message yesterday.

On Wednesday, Mr. Aquino confirmed that he ordered the recall of the funds to bring down this year’s budget deficit.

The STAR learned of the President’s order on Monday when Arroyo’s allies in the minority group in the House of Representatives invited Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson to a meeting to protest Malacañang’s efforts to take back their funds.

Singson told them that he has to comply with Mr. Aquino’s directive.

He expects to have a hard time getting his appointment confirmed by the Commission on Appointments (CA).

Deputy Minority Leader Danilo Suarez, a staunch ally of Arroyo, has said the minority bloc representative to be nominated to the CA would block Singson’s confirmation.

In the recall order, Abad told Singson that the amount is part of a total of P30.32 billion that lawmakers had inserted in this year’s DPWH budget.

Abad said Arroyo violated her own conditional veto message in the approval of the P1.54-trillion 2010 budget.

Part of the veto message stipulates that the “release of the increased items of appropriations is subject to the identification by Congress of new revenue measures in support thereof.”

The 15th Congress has not passed any new revenue bill and has not even started tackling any revenue measure.

Under the Constitution, revenue measures must originate from the House.

“This veto message is in line with the policy of keeping the (budget) deficit within the projected level for FY (fiscal year) 2010. As of end June 2010, the fiscal performance showed that the actual deficit of P196.7 billion exceeded the deficit target by P51.6 billion,” Abad said in his letter. “In this regard, the release of P10.61 billion without the corresponding revenue measures identified by Congress will have the effect of bloating the deficit.”

On Aug. 4, Singson ordered the DPWH regional offices to withdraw allotments for projects funded out of the P10.6 billion and asked them to immediately submit a status report. – With Jess Diaz