Group launches people's initiative bid vs pork barrel

MANILA, Philippines - The Cebu Coalition Against the Pork Barrel System – composed of more than 70 organizations from interfaith, academic, business and civil society organizations – on Wednesday launched the signature campaign to support the people’s initiative to abolish pork barrel.

Lawyer Ernesto Francisco Jr. threw support to the movement, which urges "patriotic Filipinos to join a People’s Initiative proposing new legislation to get rid of the pork barrel system from the country’s laws."

The group noted that the 1987 Constitution requires that the people should compile signatures of at least 10 percent of the national registered voters list, approximately numbering 52 Million; or a compilation of at least 5.2 million vetted, screened, viable voters supporting the Initiative.

“In addition, we will also need at least 3 percent of all the registered voters in each legislative district,” the coalition said in a statement.

To achieve these numbers, the group said a massive, extensive and thorough campaign of compiling vetted voters’ signatures will be implemented initially through each parish in each of the 86 dioceses around the country.

In addition, each school, college, and/or university in every city, town, province and region will be canvassed.

They will count heavily on the many employees of allied business groups, chambers and companies.

The Coalition aims to reach at least 5.7 Million signatures nationwide and at least 3.5 percent of all the legislative districts.

To make this a nationwide campaign, there will be a National Consultation among representatives from interfaith, academic, civil society, and business organizations on November 9 this year in Cebu City.

“Supporting this massive campaign will be a parallel effort of education and information dissemination by parish, social sector, school district, barangay, city, town, and province,” the group explained.

“There will be primers on the pork barrel system, how it negatively affects all of us, the current scam, and alternatives to the current system,” the coalition said.

The People’s Initiative and Education campaigns will be led and conducted by the Coalition’s 70+ organizations utilizing their varied strengths. They will be complemented with the various partners and allies of each of these 70 organizations, and their counterparts in the national scale.

With the help of the Church, School, and Business sectors, the coalition said they are confident that they will surpass the constitutional requirements.

By conducting this People’s Initiative the coalition partners “are voicing our commitment for transformation. Once more, let the blood of our heroes infuse us with renewed courage in standing for our rights and in standing for change.”

Senators agree to abolish pork

Senators, meanwhile, acknowledged that the pork barrel system may be totally abolished through the people’s initiative as mandated by the Constitution.

Senators Francis Escudero, Loren Legarda, Vicente Sotto and Sonny Angara have open minds on the people’s initiative put forth by former Chief Justice Reynato Puno.

Puno came out with the proposal on the heels of controversy rocking the administration over the misuse of the lawmakers’ Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and the question on the legality of the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

Escudero, chairman of the Senate finance committee that tackles the 2014 budget, vowed that he will push for the deletion of the PDAF allocations at the Senate where each senator gets P200-million annually.

“I agree with him about his stand to abolish the pork barrel," Escudero said, referring to Puno.

Escudero expressed support to the people's initiative as welcomes any move outside of Congress to abolish the pork barrel.

"We have the same end and I guess it won’t hurt to approach it thru two different avenues. As to possibility… we will only know if we try it,” Escudero said.

Legarda, meanwhile, reiterated his support to moves to abolish the pork barrel system.

“I am in favor of the deletion of both the PDAF and DAP in the GAA (General Appropriations Act). Yes, it can be solely relegated to the implementing agencies,” she said.

As far as Sen. Vicente Sotto III is concerned, Congress should not even wait for the people’s initiative before acting on the public’s outrage on the pork barrel issue.

Sotto noted that the Senate can simply “Amend. Delete. Thereafter, reflect in the budget deficit.”

"The People’s Initiative to remove PDAF and DAP is laudable but to transfer it to the implementing agencies is like transferring from the kettle to the fire, worse that the frying pan," Sotto said.

Angara explained that a people's initiative “is an option under the 1987 Constitution and RA 6735 which allows the people to directly propose amendments as well as repeal laws. “

“Such is done in other jurisdictions like in State legislation in the US.  The intention is to empower people and it could be an opportunity to make use of this legal mechanism and right available to the public given the widespread indignation regarding the misuse of the pork barrel or PDAF,” he said.

PI won't work

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago said that Puno’s recommendation is “not feasible”

Puno proposed that a law prohibiting pork barrel or lump-sum appropriations should be passed using the people's initiative system provided for by the Constitution.

“That is an idealistic and constitutional proposal. However, I am afraid it will not be feasible because the number of signatures required on a petition is too high and can be subverted by vote-buying, to convince voters to stay away,” she said.

Santiago explained that under the law on the people’s initiative, the people can directly propose and then enact a law but only after the registration of a petition which must contain at least 10 percent of the total number of registered voters, of which every legislative district must be represented by at least three percent of the registered voters.

“The Comelec says that in the last 2010 elections, there were 50,896,164 number of registered voters, so the petition must be signed by at least 5,089,616 voters,” she said.

Santiago said that it would be too expensive to conduct information and education campaign for voters so that they can understand the meaning and context of an anti-pork barrel law under the system of initiative and referendum.

She said that a better alternative to the Supreme Court petitions and to the proposed petition for initiative and referendum is a Budget Control and Impoundment Act, originally proposed by President Aquino when he was a senator.

“I have already re-filed President Aquino’s original measure, with the permission of his office staff.  It provides that, like its American version, after Congress authorizes appropriations, and the executive department does not intend to spend the budget items for which he is authorized, then the President has to go back to Congress with a request to impound the appropriations.  The power to grant or not the request to impound will continue to belong to Congress.  Thus, such a law will preserve the congressional power of the purse,” she said.