Not just the pork, the pigs, too

“Don’t’ scrap just the pork. Get rid of the pigs!”

Bishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz said it very well. “What if the pork is gone but the pigs remain?” There will be more pork in the future. The pigs will reproduce piglets that will grow up to fatten on the pork.

In fact, that is exactly what President Aquino has done. He abolished the hated Priority Development Assistance Fund, the official name of the pork barrel, but in name only. The pork remains in the budget, hidden in the appropriations of different executive agencies. Because the pigs are still in Congress.

In the middle of the public outrage against the pork barrel, the House of Representatives still shamelessly passed the 2014 national budget with the pork still there. You won’t find the PDAF there but the pork, like layered fat, is hidden in the budgets of the Departments of Public Works and Highways, of Education, and of Health, and other agencies. The congressmen retained the discretion to identify projects, and the executive departments will fund and implement them.

What right have congressmen to usurp the functions of executive departments? Their job is to make laws, not to be bogus DPWH, DepEd, or DOH, or bogus nongovernment organizations through which they channeled their pork to be stolen by them and their cohorts.

The Constitution is very clear on this: Congress legislates, the executive branch implements, and the judicial branch interprets. It does not allow members of Congress to be imitation executive departments.

I do not understand why the Supreme Court, in interpreting the provisions of the Constitution in several petitions brought to it, ruled that the pork barrel was constitutional.

It said the pork barrel was the “great equalizer,” through which rural areas forgotten or neglected by the national government are given aid in the form of the pork barrel of their respective congressmen. Good sentiment, but we have seen how the pork has been abused, resulting in leaks and losses of the people’s money.

Only a small portion of a congressman’s pork actually goes to projects. The rest is stolen by him and his partners in crime. In the case of the P10-billion pork barrel scam allegedly engineered by Janet Napoles, it’s said that everything was stolen by her and her lawmaker-friends, and nothing was left for the projects.

The Supreme Court is again hearing petitions to declare the pork barrel unconstitutional. A ruling against the pork will end the raging controversy over it. Congressmen, surprisingly with the aid of P-Noy, are still waging a battle to retain their beloved pork. It is shameless in the face of the widespread public outrage. But that is what congressmen are: shameless.

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Billions of pesos are needed to rehabilitate areas and restore heritage churches in Bohol, Cebu, Zamboanga and Siquijor but the government pleads: “No more funds.” What? Millions of pesos available to congressmen in the form of pork, the DAP (Disbursement Acceleration Program), and the Malampaya Fund, but none for disaster victims? What happened to the calamity fund? earthquake victims ask.

In contrast to their colleagues in the House, the senators no longer want—at least on the surface—their pork because of the strong public clamor against it. But the senators are at a loss on what to do with the money. Some want to realign it to the President’s Calamity Fund; others want it to go back to the National Treasury.

Some say that as part of the calamity fund, it will only add to the pork barrel of the President which he has the sole discretion to disburse and plow back to lawmakers as bribes. Others say it will be frozen in the Treasury and cannot be used unless there is legislation appropriating it for a specific purpose.

So why not appropriate it for rehabilitation and restoration work in Bohol, Cebu, Zamboanga and Siquijor? Or to procure more relief supplies for the disaster victims? Is that so hard to do?

And why not make the directors of the Social Security System and the 19 other government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) refund their million-peso bonuses and use these for relief work? We ask these directors: Where is your conscience? Why are you gorging on the people’s money while our disaster victims are suffering—no water, no food, no homes?  Maawa naman  kayo.

And what happened to the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG) formed by President Aquino precisely to oversee the activities of GOCCs? The oversight body approved the grant of bonuses despite violations made by the corporations. During a House hearing, Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares asked why the GCG had granted P67.6 million in bonuses to officials of GOCCs when practically none of them had bothered to post their compensations on their websites, as required by law.

The answer of GCG Chair Cesar L. Villanueva: His office had “overlooked” this basic requirement of the law. Imagine, the body especially created to oversee the GOCCs “overlooked” violations of the law.

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Note to music lovers: Nonoy Zuñiga, just back from a concert in Las Vegas, will perform in another concert in General Santos on Oct. 27. He will appear with international singer-composer Stephen Bishop, who is returning to the country for a series of concerts. Zuñiga has come out with another musical gem, his single digital record “Hanggang Dito na Lang Ba, Mahal Ko?” composed by Suzette del Rosario. It’s part of Nonoy’s album which will be launched after his concerts.