Also patently anomalous in the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF or pork barrel) and the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) scams is the wanton and flagrant violation of Republic Act No. 9184 (Government Procurement Reform Act). The law explicitly provides that all procurement of infrastructure projects, goods and consulting services shall be done through bidding in a manner that will ensure transparency, competitiveness and accountability in government procurement transactions.
While there are other modes of procurement allowed under the law, these apply only to very exceptional cases and certainly not to those funded by the PDAF or DAP, which involve millions of pesos. At the very least, the selection of suppliers and contractors, or even the NGOs that were awarded the contracts, should have been done through competitive bidding and not at the behest of senators and congressmen.
It is ironic that Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, who is the chair of the Government Procurement Policy Board which is tasked with the protection of the national interest in all matters affecting public procurement, allowed the release of the PDAF and DAP funds, knowing fully well that the requirements of the law had not been complied with. Secretary Abad therefore should explain how and why did this happen under his watch. The national and local implementing agencies should also be held accountable, and the persons who are complicit in the commission of these nefarious acts should also be charged before the Ombudsman.
These abuses in the use of taxpayer money point out the urgent need to scrap all “discretionary funds” granted to public officials, including President Aquino. Very often, these funds were used for political patronage with very little regard for the essentiality of the expenditures, or were misappropriated for personal gain. Witness how much money has been spent for basketball courts, waiting sheds, dirt roads leading to nowhere and other epal projects intended to boost the image of politicians.
Appropriation of public funds, regardless of the source, should be for clearly defined purposes and done in accord with established legal and constitutional parameters. They should constantly be subject to rigid audit and monitoring, and prompt and effective punitive measures should be taken against those who violate the law, no matter what their rank or stature may be. The people now await the speedy resolution of the cases filed before the Ombudsman for this will be an acid test of the President’s much-vaunted “matuwid na daan” slogan.
—AMADOR F. ASTUDILLO,
director, Procurement Watch,
afastudillo@yahoo.com