House moves closer to abolishing PDAF

MANILA, Philippines - The House of Representatives moved closer yesterday to scrapping the P27-billion Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) in the proposed P2.268-trillion national budget for 2014.

To be taken out of the budget together with the PDAF is Vice President Jejomar Binay’s P200-million annual pork barrel fund.

PDAF is the official name of the congressional pork barrel. It allocates P200 million a year for each senator and P70 million for each House member.

Speaking to reporters, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said yesterday House members have agreed to break up the P25.2-billion PDAF and distribute the money to various departments that will take charge of implementing the various projects of lawmakers.

“We will abolish the P25 billion but we want to integrate them in these departments. And when you integrate them with the departments, they become subject to the rules and policies of those departments,” he said.

“The committee (on appropriations) has agreed that the lump sum has to go. It will disappear from the 2014 (proposed) budget,” he added. 

Among the agencies where the PDAF would be given are the Departments of Health, Education, Public Works and Highways, Labor and Employment, and Social Welfare and Development.

Belmonte said members of Congress can still propose projects, but their implementation would be subject to the rules and policies of the concerned departments.

“Like everybody else, we can access it (reallocated funds). For example, if someone will approach us and ask for assistance related to the function of DSWD, then we will refer them to the DSWD.”

For the “hard” or infrastructure projects that were supposed to be funded by the PDAF, they will now be listed in the budget of the DPWH.

The actual percentages of the funds to be distributed to these agencies will be finalized this week, but some lawmakers said the DPWH would get at least 34 percent.

Belmonte reiterated that funds would no longer be disbursed to non-government organizations and foundations, as well as local governments, and that aprojects must be easily verifiable. 

“Hopefully, the concept that this money is ours, we have full control of this, will be gone,” he said.

“Above all, what is important is the thing that has gotten the entire people angry, when they see money passing through the implementing agency straight to the NGO and from there you don’t know anymore what happened, is something that will not happen anymore.”

The House will not deduct the P27 billion from the 2014 budget proposal, on which it will start plenary deliberations on Monday.

Instead, it plans to give the funds to a limited number of agencies – possibly two to three – that would take care of the needs of the lawmakers’ constituents for educational and medical assistance.

Members of the appropriations committee led its chairman Rep. Isidro Ungab of Davao City held a closed door meeting for six hours yesterday to try to decide which agencies the House would give the PDAF to, how much these agencies would get and how their needy constituents could have access to such funds.

Emerging from the meeting that ended at 3 p.m., Ungab said, “We have arrived at a consensus to do away with the PDAF. We will formalize it tomorrow.”

He later told The STAR that the consensus covers Binay’s P200-million fund.