Moral compass lost

The use of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and other funds to bribe congressmen to pass Malacañang bills has been going on for decades.

But the Aquino administration has gone 5 steps farther. First, it has given more funds than the traditional limit of P70 million per congressman, which used to be only P40 million. Second, it has used the grant of funds to assure approval of impeachment complaints against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez and Chief Justice Renato Corona. Third, it has extended the “bribe” system to the Senate which used to be fully independent of Malacañang. Fourth, it has created the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) to allocate extra funds for legislators. Fifth, it has expanded presidential pork barrel or discretionary funds to over a trillion pesos, more than any other president.

Certainly, the revelations coming out prove that the Aquino administration has retained the “corrupt” mechanisms of the past to  misuse government funds.

Our fellow columnist, Alex Magno, so well-known, said “Never before were the two chambers of Congress so directly accused of having been bribed wholesale by the executive branch. Never before has the political class been so smeared across the board as today. We now have the best Congress money could buy.”

What is happening now with all these talks of abolition of PDAF, of declaring PDAF and DAP illegal should have been discussed and subsequently disapproved in 2010-2011 in the first year of the Aquino administration. Had the President abolished them at that time, it would not have grown to be the big problem it is today.

What has been a commendable administration has suddenly lost its moral compass. Its vacillation on the pork barrel issue is pushing it deeper into a hole.

Who is Ma’am Arlene?

Reports have come out on the presence of an influential lobbyist/fixer in the Metro Manila Courts and the Court of Appeals.

A report has also been received that there are 3 ‘Ma’am Arlenes’ operating.

Metro Manila RTC judges and the Court of Appeals are reputed to easily issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) if properly compensated. 

The amounts involved goes into millions, too. There is also this report that Ma’am Arlene gives gifts of Hermes bags to lady judges.

Maybe it is time to ostracize women using Hermes bags.

P892.5 M for Batanes

Former Congressman Augusto Syjuco Jr. has charged that DBM Secretary Butch Abad released P892.5 million for his wife, Congresswoman Henedina Abad of Batanes for 2011 and 2012, a case of conflict of interest.

The previous congressman got only P13 million in 2009 and P17 million in 2010.

Did Secretary Abad get President Aquino’s approval for the huge release of P892.5 M? If he did not, then he certainly has a lot of explaining to do. Batanes is the smallest district in terms of population, with only 16,604, and land area. Even P70 million is too big for this small district.

6 get P100 M more

Sources now report that 6 senators — Alan Peter Cayetano, Antonio Trillanes, Ralph Recto, Teofisto “TG” Guingona III, Sergio Osmena III, and Francis Pangilinan got P100 million more from the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) in November-December 2011.

This appears to confirm our previous finding that Senators got P100 M each for the approval of the budget, without cuts, including keeping the conditional cash transfer (CCT) intact.

It will be recalled that in the beginning, 5 senators expressed objections to the CCT.

Senate President  Frank Drilon in a statement admitted the release of P100 million to at least 6 senators was valid. Totalling the releases from 2010-2013, senators each received a minimum of P750 million pork barrel funds.

Another DA agency involved

P200 million was released from the PDAF to Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, who then assigned the fund to the National Agricultural and Fisheries Council (NAFC).

The release to NAFC is questionable because its mandate is purely policy making and coordination and not implementation of programs.

This brought to 3 agencies of the Department of Agriculture (DA) used in the PDAF scam. Earlier, charges were filed against executives of the National Agribusiness Corp. (NABCOR) and Zamboanga Del Norte College Rubber Estates Corp. (ZREC) for the misuse of PDAF funds by bogus non-government organizations (NGOs).

Still to be accounted for is the P36-B farm-to-market road program for the last 3 years.

Long way off

The Philippine government –Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) talks in Kuala Lumpur have recessed after several days of deadlock on the power sharing annex.

The clearing in Zamboanga City has not been finished after 14 days. There are continuing clashes in Basilan, North Cotabato, and Maguindanao.

We are a long way from peace in Mindanao.

In the meantime, the power crisis continues with 7-hour brownouts happening in several provinces.

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TIDBITS: All Ateneo lawyers converge at the New World Hotel this Friday, Oct. 18 for the 2013 Grand Alumni Homecoming. Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno is our keynote speaker. Honorees are Jubilarian Classes ‘63, ’73 and ’88. Contact Atty. Vicky Ortega-Pollisco at 0918-9096829 or the ALAAI offices at 8997691 loc 2125 or 9865598.

The 61st Annual Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers (PSME) National Convention (NATCON) will be held at the SMX Mall of Asia on Oct. 23-26, 2013. The incumbent national president is Rudy Sultan.

Philippine Airlines resumes service to London on Nov. 4, 2013, offering a 12-hour non-stop flight for only $462. Happy flying PAL.

Another robbery has occurred at the San Rafael Estate in Sto. Tomas, Batangas, a gated subdivision. Dr. Abella Sim Lirio, relative of the first victim, Jay Lirio was victimized. Yes, there’s so much crime in Batangas.

The P500 million given to Technology Research Center for bogus NGOs should be replenished and used for more Science and Technology scholarships under RA 10612.

Congratulations to Boss Danding Cojuangco, Coach Juno Sauler, and the La Salle Green Archers for winning the UAAP 76th Season Championship.