Lawmaker blows whistle on rubberized ‘pork’

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino’s office had ordered the release of P475 million in pork barrel funds – apparently for some senators – but later had it recalled, Kabataan Rep. Terry Ridon said.

“This is the mysterious case of hundreds of millions in rubberized or elastic pork,” Ridon said.

He said he found it puzzling that Malacañang would release such a huge amount and then take it back.

Based on documents, Ridon said the releases were embodied in six Special Allotment Release Orders (SAROs) signed and issued by Budget Undersecretary Mario Relampagos on Dec. 6, 2011 to the “Office of the Secretary, Department of Agrarian Reform.”

He said three SAROs were for P100 million each, while the remaining three were for P70 million, P55 million and P50 million.

He added the releases were apparently intended for some senators, since members of the House of Representatives do not get such huge pork barrel fund allocations.

The now unconstitutional Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), which used to be the official name of the congressional pork barrel, allocated P200 million a year to each senator and P70 million to each House member.

Ridon said the SAROs issued to the office of Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio delos Reyes show that the money was intended for financial assistance and livelihood projects for agrarian reform beneficiaries nationwide.

He said the SAROs show that the release of the funds “is in accordance with OP (Office of the President) approval dated Oct. 12, 2011.”

He said the documents also indicate that the funds were for the agrarian reform department’s “additional program” and identify the source of the money as “Fund 158.”

He said the SAROs were accompanied by six separate Notice of Cash Allocation (NCA), which informed Delos Reyes that a total of P475 million was deposited with Land Bank of the Philippines (Quezon City Circle branch) and was available for use for the purposes stated in the fund release documents.

He said the NCAs were signed and issued by Relampagos also on Dec. 6.

He stressed that it was unusual for the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to issue NCAs on the same day as SAROs.

He explained that a SARO is a DBM document informing an agency that a certain amount of funds is available for identified projects. The SARO serves as the legal basis for an agency to conduct public bidding as required by the Procurement Law, he said.

Thus, such agency does not immediately need cash, he said.

However, in the case of the “rubberized pork,” cash was available on the same day the SAROs were issued, he said.