EDITORIAL - Zero accomplishments

Before disgruntled employees of businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles blew the whistle on the misuse of the congressional pork barrel through bogus non-government organizations, there were numerous reports, mostly speculative, of lawmakers pocketing public funds or receiving kickbacks through projects supposedly undertaken by the Department of Public Works and Highways. Some DPWH officials grumbled that lawmakers were imposing on the department contractors that did not meet the required criteria.

Now the DPWH has told the House of Representatives Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability that the department was in the dark on how several lawmakers used P898 million in pork barrel that was supposed to finance public works projects. At least nine congressional districts had “zero accomplishments” for the appropriations, according to the DPWH. The funds were appropriated shortly before the general elections in May 2010, with the entire amount totaling P16.5 billion, the DPWH told the House.

Like senators who are blaming NGOs for the pork barrel scam, some of the lawmakers who received the P898 million say it is the DPWH that should be held accountable for the utilization of the funds. Why the pork barrel was released during an election period is questionable in itself. But this latest addition to the pork barrel controversy should lead to rules that will rationalize the power of the legislature over public funds.

Of the projects earmarked in the 2010 election season, several were minor ones such as river dredging or clearing or re-graveling of roads. For many years these were pet projects of lawmakers, with the finished projects often quickly washed away by the first heavy rain. This common earmarking practice was one of the biggest reasons for the patchwork quilt of substandard pavement that characterizes the road networks in Metro Manila and many other places around the country. Such projects – among the biggest sources of corruption, according to DPWH officials – are now supposed to have been scrapped along with the Priority Development Assistance Fund.

DPWH officials must continue weeding out the creative ways by which projects can be earmarked by public officials using people’s money for personal or partisan purposes. This is the underlying principle in the pork barrel scam, and there are certain officials who are not prepared to let go of what they consider to be their entitlement. The effort to end such practices is far from over.