PNoy: It's time to scrap pork barrel

MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno Aquino III on Friday called for the abolition of the Priority Development Assitance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel of lawmakers.

Aquino made the announcement after the controversial pork barrel scam hit the headlines and a Commission on Audit report (COA) revealed certain irregularities in the PDAF from 2007 to 2009.

"We have seen, as the events of the past weeks have shown, that greater change is necessary to fight against those who are determined to abuse the system. It is time to abolish PDAF," Aquino said. 

Several lawmakers allegedly channeled their PDAF to bogus non-government organizations (NGOs) to fund ghost projects, which would give them kickbacks.

The COA report revealed on the other hand that 74 lawmakers exceeded their PDAF allocation from 2007 to 2009 while around 200 legislators gave over P6 billion of pork barrel to 82 mostly dubious NGOs.

"There are those who treat PDAF as their own private fund, to use as they please. This is clearly wrong: What is involved here is the people’s money; it should be used for the benefit of the people, and not for the benefit of a few greedy individuals," said Aquino.

The President has been vocal in his stand not to abolish the pork barrel, but his announcement on Friday is seen to appease the growing public clamor to scrap the controversial fund.

Aquino said those found guilty of abusing the pork barrel system should be held accountable while ensuring that public funds go to the people's welfare.

With the pork barrel system abolished, Aquino said lawmakers can identify and suggest projects for their constituents, but these will have to go through the budgetary process.

"If approved, these projects will be earmarked as line items, under the programs of your National Government. In this way, they will be enacted into law as part of our National Budget—every line, every peso, and every project open to scrutiny, as with all other programs of your government," he said.

The President added that the government will also come up with a new mechanism to address the needs of constituents and sectors "in a manner that is transparent, methodical, and rational, and not susceptible to abuse or corruption."

Every project, as well as their corresponding budgetary releases, will also have the following safeguards against corruption, such as the prohibition on coursing the pork barrel to NGOs and selected government-owned and controlled corporations.

Also prohibited is the budget allocation for consumable soft projects such as fertilizer, seeds, medical kits, false teeth and training materials that cannot be audited.

Short-term infrastructure projects such as dredging are also now prohibited.

The projects of congressmen will now be limited to the districts or sectors that they represent.