Lacson wants pork barrel scrapped
Posted: 11:23 PM (Manila Time) | May 19, 2002
By Vincent Cabreza
Inquirer News Service

Source of criticism

BAGUIO CITY – A neophyte senator has broken the Senate's silence over the squabble of congressmen over pork barrel by urging Congress to abolish it.

Opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson said here Saturday that the pork barrel system had corrupted legislators.

"(Pork barrel) is always the source of criticism. It is always the source of corruption (in Congress)," Lacson, the Philippine National Police chief of deposed President Joseph Estrada, said at the induction of officers of the Baguio Press Club.

Pork barrel is money taken from the national budget that funds projects of a senator in various parts of the country or of a member of the House of Representatives in a congressional district.

Lacson said he had spent enough time parrying bribe offers from groups interested in using his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), a pork barrel allocated to every senator and member of the House of Representatives.

"Sabi ko bahala na (I told myself so be it). I am sure I will earn the ire of my colleagues (if I push for the abolition of pork) but never mind . . . I believe that lawmakers should not build roads, you know. We should make laws," he said.

A senator is allocated 200 million pesos in pork, according to administration Sen. Francis Pangilinan. A representative of a district is entitled to 65 million pesos in the PDAF and a sectoral representative, 35 million pesos, according to Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay Jr.

The PDAF is separate from a legislator's share of the infrastructure budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways. The DPWH's infrastructure budget for next year is 34.8 billion pesos.

Asked for comment on Lacson's proposal, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said he was not against the abolition of pork but he wanted Lacson's proposal amended.

Pimentel said the pork barrel of all members of Congress could be pooled and used to finance a national project like a railway network that will connect Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.

He said just scrapping the pork barrel would favor the administration of President Macapagal-Arroyo, who is running in 2004.

"The danger here is that the administration will have at its disposal the whole amount. The money will be used for partisan ends," Pimentel said.

Lacson's proposal came after members of the House fought bitterly over the sharing of the DPWH's 34.8-billion-peso infrastructure fund.

Many representatives wanted equal sharing of the infrastructure fund, which they claim, goes mostly to developed areas.

The squabble ended after House members approved a "brotherhood system" in which a congressional district receiving more than 38 million pesos worth of public works projects will contribute from one to 3 percent of the amount to the "poorer districts."

60% lost to corruption

Lacson announced his new anti-pork crusade as an afterthought after newly elected BPC president Wilfredo Cacdac asked for two million pesos of Lacson's PDAF to jumpstart the construction of a media clubhouse here.

Lacson told club members and guests that he was preparing a privileged speech on the abolition of pork barrel in both houses of Congress.

"(The pork barrel) has been the source of corruption among lawmakers, among all other agencies in government. But don't worry. It will take some time if ever it gets the approval of my colleagues, and I have a little share left (for your clubhouse)," Lacson said.

Lacson noted that he followed a "no-take" policy when he was the PNP chief.

"When I became senator, many contractors approached me and the first question they asked me was: 'Ano ba ang requirements ninyo (What are your required share from the contract amount)?'" Lacson later told the Inquirer.

"It's saddening because for every one million pesos (of the PDAF) released for a farm-to-market road, only a high of 40 percent actually goes to the construction. The 60 percent is lost to corruption," he said.

A former congressman said governors and mayors also get kickbacks from infrastructure projects of legislators. The kickbacks result in shoddy roads, bridges and school buildings.

Lacson said he had written letters to PDAF beneficiaries to alert them about his "no-take" policy.

"Every time mayors or governors or congressmen approach me for a slice of my (PDAF), I always find time to tell them that they should guard against people, who claim to be my staff but ask for commission from the release of the PDAF," Lacson said.

Ironically, the senator has no idea how much of his PDAF this year has been released. He said he was certain though that his PDAF had not yet been consumed.

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