This is in reaction to Philippine STAR’s two separate surveys regarding pork barrel. The results show the overwhelming disgust of our people towards the pork barrel system and everyone seems enraged over the massive scams involving billions of pesos worth of people’s “pork†money.
With politicians insisting on doing things contrary to the will of those who voted them into office, where is democracy? Who or “what†do senators and congressmen represent, if not the people? Is the voice of the people not loud enough all over the country today?
Anywhere I tried to search it, no definition of democracy would tell us that a group or groups of elected officials may legislate or implement abuses, and that the voice or will of the people can be ignored and thwarted.
Democracy is about “eligible citizens participating equally — either directly or through their elected representatives — in the proposal, development, and creation of laws†(Wikipedia). I discovered that democracy essentially encompasses nothing about “pork barrel†or huge amounts of money being under the discretion or impunity of any person in a position of power. Democracy is basically a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
Hence if pork barrel is what Congress is all about, there should now be a clamor to abolish Congress. This is hypothetically what the Senate President was suggesting when he said, “What will happen if we will not take a direct hand (in the identification of projects)? Let’s abolish Congress then.†So be it.
The call of the people to abolish pork barrel doesn’t just mean calling it by a new name; neither does it mean the scrapping of just the pork barrel of legislators. In spite of the “assurances†and “positive†developments about the issue, the people are unconvinced and remain to be unperturbed in demanding for the total abolition of pork barrel, not merely the PDAF for 2014 budget.
Corruption and patronage politics are what we are trying to solve in PDAF and the likes. Hence, simply removing the custody of the funds from the hands of legislators but still retaining their prerogative to choose projects to be funded by PDAF, as suggested, is still unacceptable because that would remain to be “pork†wearing a different collar, equal to patronage politics.
Junk pork barrel altogether and we will have the right people to govern us.
Our political leaders are apparently going against the tide of mounting public conscience nowadays. Despite the great deluge, is this not dictatorship? Have our leaders forgotten Ferdinand Edralin Marcos and the lessons they should have learned from him? A sick and more humane Marcos touted the latter part of his despotic rule as being “democracy restored.†Yet democracy was restored only when the omnipotent “collective conscience†deposed him in February 1986 through People Power Revolt.
Many lawmakers have softened a bit their stance about pork barrel because of the grand Million People March to Luneta. But what are they waiting to happen in the days or months to come before every one of them could finally do it completely right?
With Heaven by their side, the Filipino people speaking and acting as one to fight corruption and evil is an unbeatable force to reckon with. Note well Mr. President, Vice-President, Governors, Mayors, the honorable Senators and Congressmen.
The nation is on its knees, praying. — RENI M. VALENZUELA, renimvalenzuela@yahoo.com