Mga panunuhol umano ng Malacañang

SINISILIP ngayon ang umano’y mga iregularidad sa paggamit ng Malacañang ng pondo ng bayan upang impluwensiyahan, kundi man manipulahin, ang Kongreso.

Narito ang ilang bahagi ng privilege speech ni Sen. Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada hinggil dito:

“… the executive department (Malacañang) wields the power over the release of Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) allocations.

… the executive has used the releases for PDAF and infrastructure projects as a form of reward or incentive to secure the support of legislators for or against certain pet legislations or for other political purposes.

… much has been written about how former President Arroyo used the PDAF to prevent several impeachment cases against her from prospering in the House of Representatives and thus never reached the Senate.

… even DBM (Department of Budget and Management) Secretary Florencio Abad’s text message warning that there will be no releases to certain congressmen if they did not vote in favor of impeaching former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez was very much publicized and confirmed by a number of lawmakers.

… noong kasagsagan ng debate sa sin tax bill… naisulat din sa mga pahayagan na nag-aalok ang secretary ng Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) sa mga kongresista ng Special Allotment Release Orders (SARO) para ma-ipasa ang panukalang batas na iyon. I voted against this, kaya wala akong SARO dito.

… ganoon din ang mainit na balita noong tinatalakay ng Kongreso ang kontroberyal na reproductive health bill. Again, I voted against this measure, kaya wala po akong SARO.

… hindi na tuloy nakapagtataka nang kumalat ang balita na ang mga kongresista at mga senador ay inalok din ng PDAF para siguraduhin ang impeachment at conviction ng dating punong hukom ng korte suprema.

… after the conviction of the former chief justice, those who voted to convict were allotted an additional 50 million pesos as provided in a private and confidential letter memorandum of the then chair of the Senate finance committee.”

Hinihintay ng taumbayan ang paliwanag ng Malacañang hinggil dito.