Congress spends P68-B ‘pork’

MANILA, Philippines - Senators and congressmen have spent a total of P68.6 billion in pork barrel funds from 2009 up to last week.

The biggest recipients are Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Edgardo Angara and Jinggoy Estrada.

Enrile is the only billion-peso recipient with P1.185 billion in total releases from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), the official name of the congressional pork barrel.

Based on what is reflected in the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) website, the former defense minister received P727.7 million in 2009 during the time of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

That amount is more than the combined total of PDAF releases he received under President Aquino’s administration.

The DBM website shows only PDAF allocations disbursed from 2009 up to last week.

Angara has received a total of P879.65 million, the biggest of which was P405 million in 2009 during Arroyo’s time.

A total of P685.6 million has been made available to Estrada. The largest was P200 million in 2012.

A recent Commission on Audit (COA) report showed that nearly P200 million in PDAF funds of Enrile, Estrada and Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. ended up with a bogus entity identified as Pangkabuhayan Foundation.

The funds were coursed through the Department of Agriculture.

Enrile has urged COA to release its findings on the use of his colleagues’ PDAF allocations.

The other former and incumbent senators and their total PDAF releases: Alan Peter Cayetano, P463 million; Pia Cayetano, P466.77 million; Franklin Drilon, P289.5 million; Richard Gordon, P194 million; Gregorio Honasan, P554 million; Lito Lapid, P501 million; Loren Legarda, P575.55 million; Jamby Madrigal, P94 million; Francis Pangilinan, P612.2 million; Ramon Revilla Jr., P566 million; and Miriam Defensor-Santiago, P450 million.

Teofisto Guingona III has received P376.9 million, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., P370 million; Sergio Osmeña III, P302.5 million; Ralph Recto, P350 million; Vicente Sotto III, P450 million; Antonio Trillanes IV, P421 million; Francis Escudero, P385 million; and Manuel Villar Jr., P435.5 million.

Juan Miguel Zubiri received P142.1 million, while his successor, Aquilino Pimentel III has received a total of P267.3 million. Zubiri gave up his Senate seat in August 2011. That year, he did not touch his PDAF allocation.