Eddiegul denies PDAF released to fake NGO

CEBU, Philippines - Former Cebu first district congressman Eduardo Gullas has maintained his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) went to medical assistance and projects that improved the education system in his district.

This, as he refuted allegations that appropriations from his PDAF/pork barrel went to a bogus non-government organizations (NGO).

It was reported that he have given around P9 million to Philippine Forest Corp., which was reported to be a fake organization.

“The implementing agency is DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources). The NGO is not a dubious NGO but is accredited with the DENR,” Gullas said.

He said DENR directly released the fund to the NGO, which in turn distributed seeds and seedlings to farmer beneficiaries of the barangays, with the supervision of the local government units.

Gullas, who completed his nine-year stint as district representative, said the pork barrel system has helped not just farmers but the poor who wants to get education and medical help.

“The greater bulk of my PDAF…has always been for educational assistance in the form of Cong. Gullas Scholarships and medical assistance to poor and indigent patients under the Gullas Medical Assistance Program,” read his press statement sent to The FREEMAN.

Gullas believes abolishing the PDAF could affect educational and medical assistance to the poor. Talisay City, Minglanilla, City of Naga City, San Fernando, Carcar City and Sibonga compose the first congressional district of Cebu.

The PDAF amounts to an average of P70 million for every congressman.

Gullas said indigent patients of the first district confined at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center received P8,000 (with surgery) and P5,000 (without surgery) from his PDAF.

His grandson who replaced him as Cebu first district congressman, Rep. Gerald Anthony “Samsam” Gullas Jr., is planning to use his PDAF for the scholarship of 800 students.

Gullas said the Supreme Court has described the PDAF as the “greatest equalizer” because minority-allied representatives also receive it.

While he does not object to President Benigno Aquino III’s decision to scrap the PDAF, he worries over its repercussions.

Meanwhile, Gullas defended President Aquino over an “innocuous” photograph showing the president with alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Napoles.

“The President is a celebrity in his own right. People from all walks of life want to have their pictures taken with him. Since when has it become a crime for a president to oblige their requests?” Gullas said in his statement.

He said the “real issue” is not the photograph between the president and Napoles but the fund that was misused.

“There is not an iota of evidence that would link President Aquino to the so-called PDAF scam, dating back from the time when he was a congressman and later as a senator,” Gullas added.—/RHM    (FREEMAN)