GMA shares 'pork' with allies in opposition who have none

MANILA, Philippines - Former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has agreed to share portions of her pork barrel funds with her colleagues in the opposition bloc who have yet to receive their congressional allocations since the 15th Congress opened last year, House Minority Leader and Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said yesterday.

Lagman also disclosed that some opposition lawmakers are now “succumbing to the pressure tactics of Malacañang” to withhold their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to further decimate the ranks of the 30-member minority bloc.

Last month, two opposition lawmakers –– Jesus Celeste and Leopoldo Bataoil of the first and second districts of Pangasinan – joined the majority coalition, citing local politics as their reason.

The minority bloc also lost two key members to the majority – La Union Rep. Victor Ortega and Pampanga Rep. Aurelio Gonzales, a close ally of the Arroyos.

Ortega was offered the chairmanship of the House committee on inter-parliamentary relations and diplomacy while Gonzales was believed to be having problems securing payments from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for construction projects implemented during the previous administration.

Rumors are rife that two more opposition stalwarts – Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez and ALE party-list Rep. Catalina Bagasina – are leaving the Lagman-led group.

Romualdez is reportedly being wooed by members of the newly formed National Unification Party to be their party chairman, while Bagasina is said to be reeling from the lack of PDAF for her organization’s projects.

Lagman said there are nine or 10 opposition congressmen who have “zero” PDAF after over a year since the 15th Congress opened.

They include Arroyo’s two sons, Ang Galing Pinoy party-list Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo and Camarines Sur Rep. Diosdado “Dato” Arroyo, and her brother-in-law Negros Occidental Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo.

Others who have not received their pork barrel funds are Bohol Rep. Arthur Yap, Iloilo Rep. Augusto Syjuco, Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez, Occidental Mindoro Rep. Amelita Villarosa, Davao del Sur Rep. Marc Douglas Cagas, Zambales Rep. Milagros Magsaysay, and Romualdez.

House members are allocated some P70 million in PDAF, of which P40 million is for “hard” projects like road construction, and the remainder is for “soft” programs like scholarships and health care.

Lagman said Arroyo recently received the first tranche of her PDAF for “soft” projects or P15 million and offered to share portions of it with some of her colleagues whose debts with educational institutions in their districts are piling up because of nonpayment of their scholarship funds for their constituents.

He said the move is allowed by the DBM following certain paperwork. Magsaysay said she has over 1,000 college scholars in her districts who are in danger of not being able to attend classes due to lack of funds.

Lagman said he again raised the matter of the move of the DBM to withhold the PDAF of critics of President Aquino during the plenary debates on the proposed P1.8-trillion national budget for 2012 and the answer he got was that the funds were “forthcoming.”

“In the lounge, I heard that they (administration) are being asked to submit the list of projects for their second (PDAF) tranche. But we still have zero,” Magsaysay said.

She said she would receive P1 million from Arroyo to fund her scholarship program.

Lagman stressed “we are not beggars because we don’t beg for something our districts are entitled to.”

“We asked this with ascendancy because we are members of the House and under the Constitution the House has the power of the purse,” he said.