Aquino setting bad example with his stand on pork

President Aquino is setting such a bad example by insisting that he should continue to get his pork barrel, the largest of Philippine pork barrels. On top of that, he insists on allocating a huge slice of the national budget for pork barrels. He appears completely oblivious to what is going on in the country after the P10-billion pork barrel scam exposé.

There is a public outcry for President Aquino to do something about the entire pork barrel system which is obviously a broken money system. There is no Freedom of Information law—or anything—that can stop the misuse of public funds. Yet President Aquino and the Department of Budget and Management keep giving out government money.

When will President Aquino learn that he has to do what is best for the entire country and not just what he wants to do? Maybe abolishing the pork barrel system is an option for him, but he has to do something significant enough, at least to ensure that the funds are being used to benefit the entire country instead of just a few. Had the funds been used properly, say, for a flood prevention system, then who knows if the floods that struck our country could have been less devastating or could have even been prevented?

—MAX PASCUAL, [email protected]