Balitang Kutsero By Perry Diaz
Presidential wannabe Noynoy Aquino may not have billions to spend in his campaign, but he sure has a lot of guts! At a rally of thousands of his “Yellow Army” supporters, he warned corrupt officials that their days were numbered. That’s gutsy! Not too long ago, Noynoy promised that he’ll recover the Marcos “loot.” That’s gutsy! And recently, he promised that he’d prosecute President Gloria Arroyo for plunder if he’s elected President. Now, that’s really gutsy! No guts, no Gloria!
During the 24th anniversary of the EDSA People Power revolution at the People Power Monument, Gloria said that her vision to “heal the wounds of the past EDSA uprisings has been partially met.” According to her, “healing the wounds of Edsa is a part of her 10-point pro-poor agenda.” “Healing the wounds of Edsa”? Hmmm…
Well, here’s what I wrote in my article, “Power of the Pork,” a few weeks ago:
“Biggest pork barrel in history:
In 2005, Gloria used more than P80 billion for pork barrel — that’s 10 times the normal amount! — for projects in which most were shrouded in mystery. More than half of this — P46.8 billion — were allocated for ‘Healing of Edsa I, II and III Funds.’ When asked in a radio interview, then Budget Secretary Romulo Neri explained that the P46.8-billion ‘healing of Edsa wounds’ fund included P29 billion for ‘back pension payments for retired Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police personnel.’ That’s a hell of a lot of money! Shouldn’t they be included in the Department of National Defense and Philippine National Police budgets? Or was it used surreptitiously to keep the military ‘loyal’ to Gloria during the ‘Hello Garci’ election cheating scandal and Edsa III uprising?” Yup, as Gloria’s granddaughter once said, “What Lola want, Lola gets.”
Gloria also said, “The world embraced EDSA I in 1986. The world tolerated EDSA II in 2001. The world will not forgive an EDSA III but would instead condemn the Philippines as a country whose political system is hopelessly unstable.” Huh? And I thought Gloria’s EDSA II was what made the country’s political system “hopelessly unstable.” Kurakot na, mahirap pa. Wah wah we! Kawawa naman kami!
Gloria also claimed that the “Glorious Revolution” had deteriorated into partisanship over the years.” She’s right. EDSA I was the “Glorious Revolution” and EDSA II was “Gloria’s Revolution,” and it’s been downhill since then. And if there’s going to be EDSA III, what should it be called? Let’s see…
Noynoy’s “Yellow Army” celebrated the “People Power” in the jam-packed Araneta Coliseum with 30,000 Coristas, Ninoyistas, Noynoyistas, and Liberalistas. The sea of yellow was a breath-taking sight.
Meanwhile, Manny “Money Villarroyo” Villar had a campaign swing featuring go-go girls clad in bikinis gyrating on stage to an audience of salivating Villaristas, Marcos loyalistas, Nacionalistas, and communistas. In the old days, that’s called “burlesque.” Oh, well, that’s the sign of the times. What Manny wants, money gets.
The other day, Noynoy accused Villarroyo of stealing his line. According to Noynoy, Villarroyo stole his slogan, “Hindi ako magnanakaw” (I will not steal). In one of his campaign sorties, Villarroyo said, “Sa harap ninyo, sa mata ng Diyos, hindi ako nagnakaw … Hindi ako magnanakaw” (In your presence and in the eyes of God, I did not steal ... I will not steal). Well, after nine years under Gloria Arroyo’s corrupt regime, it makes one wonder if there’s anything left to steal.
But what’s going on with the other eight presidential wannabes? Gloria’s hand-picked candidate Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro is finally feeling the effect of Gloria’s “kiss of death.” He’s now distancing himself from Gloria by not talking about Gloria’s legacy. It won’t be long before he’d realize that it’s time to abort and join the “Yellow Army” of his cousin, Noynoy.
***
I read that two VIPs whose endorsements could be “kiss of death” to the candidate are former President Fidel V. Ramos and boxing icon Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao. Ramos said that he’ll make his endorsement by the end of March or early April. I can hear most of the candidates saying, “Please not me!” But not Richard “Flashy Dick” Gordon. With a 1% rating in the poll surveys and a shoe-string campaign budget, what has he got to lose?
In the case of Pacman, he said that he’ll start campaigning for Villarroyo, his “beloved president,” after his fight with Joshua Clottey. For someone who claims that he had a talk with God, Pacman is becoming a joker. And the joker is wild, man! He should stay sway from Villarroyo’s go-go girls during the campaign. Some people say that Pacman has an eye for beautiful girls.
***
Former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada claimed that an opponent urged him to withdraw from the presidential derby and offered to reimburse all his campaign expenses if he quit. Well, with his funds drying up, Erap should take the offer and call it quits. Heck, he can always claim that he already spent P2 billion. I’m pretty sure that Money Villarroyo wouldn’t blink an eye to shell out that kind of money. With that kind of money, Erap can retire in his “Boracay” mansion.
A few days ago, Villarroyo was criticized for giving P20 bills to several street children who approached him during a campaign swing in Batangas. That’s nothing. They’re just children, not voters. I think he was just practicing the art of “vote-buying.”
In another instance, Villarroyo got himself in trouble with the Commission on Elections (Comelec). Comelec said that a disqualification case may be filed against him “for violating the Omnibus Election Code (OEC) after giving away scholarship grants to his supporters.” Whoa! That’s vote-buying, clear and simple! Section 261 of the OEC states that “vote-buying is when a person ‘gives, offers or promises money or anything of value’ in order to induce anyone to vote for or against any candidate.” Now, that is serious.
But in another instance, Villarroyo got himself in big trouble. This time, it’s with the military. According the military spokesman, Villarroyo’s group “violated an agreement that they would not conduct any form of campaigning inside the highly-restricted military compound.” Villarroyo and his group met with detained Marine Col. Ariel Querubin -- who is running for Senator under Villarroyo’s party -- in Camp Aguinaldo. They then locked arms and made a “unity walk” inside the camp. The military spokesman said that “the unity walk” violated standing regulations of the military banning any political activity in all its camps. Now, that is very serious. Villarroyo should know better than not to mess around with the military. Villarroyo may have lots of money but the military have lots of guns... sometimes they shoot first before they ask questions.
(PerryDiaz@gmail.com)
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Power of the ‘Pork’
PerryScope By Perry Diaz
The term “pork barrel” refers to the use of government funds that are intended to benefit the constituents of a politician in return for their votes. In effect, it is an institutionalized -- and legalized -- form of vote-buying. So, whoever controls the allocation of pork barrel funds wields immense political power.
In the nine years that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has been in office, she learned how to use the power of the “pork” to keep her allies in line as well as to stop opposition to her self-perceived “god-given” mandate to rule the country. Indeed, the “pork barrel system” -- officially known as Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) -- has become the linchpin of her brand of “political patronage.”
Who gets the pork?
The annual allocation of pork barrel funds total about P7 billion with each senator getting P200 million and each congressman getting P70 million. It would have been easy for Congress to allocate the pork barrel funds in the national budget prorated equitably amongst the legislators and everybody would be happy. As a matter of fact, that’s how it used to be in the old days when legislators would get their fair share of the pork to spend on their pet projects for their constituents. But the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos took away the legislature’s “power of the purse” during the martial law days.
While the legislators’ pet projects are well-meaning and beneficial to their constituents, the lack of transparency and auditability gives rise to opportunity for graft and corruption. There are reports that some legislators demand kickbacks or commissions -- as high as 50% -- from contractors and suppliers. Corruption is more prevalent in public work construction projects where bidders could collude to fix their bids; thus, allowing kickbacks -- or “tongpats” -- to be embedded in their lump sum bids.
Gloria used the “power of the purse” to strengthen her political position and exercise sole discretion and total control on how pork barrel funds are disbursed, and how much each legislator would receive. In other words, the legislators are at the mercy of Gloria in getting their pork. If you were not in Gloria’s good graces, you would end up with nothing to spend in your district.
This led former Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Emilia Boncodin to accuse Gloria of practicing “selective release” of pork barrel funds which means that only those close to Gloria would get the funds.
Biggest pork barrel in history
In 2005, Gloria used more than P80 billion for pork barrel -- that’s 10 times the normal amount! -- for projects in which most were shrouded in mystery. More than half of this -- P46.8 billion -- were allocated for “Healing of Edsa I, II and III Funds.” When asked in a radio interview, then Budget Secretary Romulo Neri explained that the P46.8-billion “healing of Edsa wounds” fund included P29 billion for “back pension payments for retired Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police personnel.” That’s a hell of a lot of money! Shouldn’t they be included in the Department of National Defense and Philippine National Police budgets? Or was it used surreptitiously to keep the military “loyal” to Gloria during the “Hello Garci” election cheating scandal and Edsa III uprising?
In 2008, former Speaker Joe de Venecia revealed that Gloria controlled the legislators’ pork barrel through her sons, Congressmen Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo and Diosdado “Dato” Arroyo. According to De Venecia, the legislators couldn’t get their pork barrel approved by Gloria without her sons’ endorsements. It is no wonder then that several impeachment petitions against Gloria were defeated by her allies in Congress. Who would dare infuriate her and risk losing his pork?
Indeed, by controlling the pork barrel allocations of the congressmen, Gloria became the “Supreme Overlord” of the House of Representatives. Their mantra was: “What Gloria wants, Gloria gets.” And anyone who would buck her would get a kick in the back. De Venecia found that out when, in a swift act, he was unceremoniously ousted from the Speakership by his party mates whom he thought were his friends. Sorry, pal, but as someone once said, “There are no permanent friends and no permanent enemies, only permanent self-interest.”
Abolition of the pork
In 2009, Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero introduced Resolution No. 900 “urging the Senate committee on Finance to cause the immediate review and accordingly propose the repeal or amendment of Presidential Decree No. 1177 and Book VI of Executive Order No. 292, specifically all provisions pertinent to budget preparation, disposition and management, with the end in view of reverting to Congress the power of the purse as prescribed by the Constitution.”
A few weeks ago, Escudero -- a proponent of the abolition of the pork barrel system -- said that Gloria “has been exercising her power to impound pork not because of any lofty purpose but to give out or withhold political favor to help her allies and to strangle her political opponents.”
Last year, Gloria released P459 million in pork barrel funds for infrastructure projects in her son Mikey’s 2nd district of Pampanga. This is seven times more than a typical allocation. But what is appalling is that Gloria is running for Congress in Pampanga’s second district and billboards were erected all over the district showing her picture wearing a hard hat, claiming credit for all the infrastructure improvements in her son’s district. Obviously, she’s using pork barrel funds for her congressional campaign. It may be deemed legal because it was part of the PDAF general appropriation. However, as Congresswoman Ana Theresia Baraquel commented, Gloria’s use of pork barrel funds was “improper” and “shameless” spending.
With Gloria running for Congress virtually unopposed, she could easily become the next Speaker of the House of Representatives. She’d then be closer to her ultimate goal of amending the constitution to change the form of government to a parliamentary system.
Is the country ready for a structural change of government? In my opinion, the country is not yet ready, not until we have a leader who has the best interests of the country and the people in mind. Right now, that leader has yet to emerge. But with 10 presidential candidates in the May 10 elections, there should be one that would rise above the others to take the biggest challenge of the presidency; that is, abolish pork barrel.
No pork, no fat.
(PerryDiaz@gmail.com)
The term “pork barrel” refers to the use of government funds that are intended to benefit the constituents of a politician in return for their votes. In effect, it is an institutionalized -- and legalized -- form of vote-buying. So, whoever controls the allocation of pork barrel funds wields immense political power.
In the nine years that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has been in office, she learned how to use the power of the “pork” to keep her allies in line as well as to stop opposition to her self-perceived “god-given” mandate to rule the country. Indeed, the “pork barrel system” -- officially known as Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) -- has become the linchpin of her brand of “political patronage.”
Who gets the pork?
The annual allocation of pork barrel funds total about P7 billion with each senator getting P200 million and each congressman getting P70 million. It would have been easy for Congress to allocate the pork barrel funds in the national budget prorated equitably amongst the legislators and everybody would be happy. As a matter of fact, that’s how it used to be in the old days when legislators would get their fair share of the pork to spend on their pet projects for their constituents. But the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos took away the legislature’s “power of the purse” during the martial law days.
While the legislators’ pet projects are well-meaning and beneficial to their constituents, the lack of transparency and auditability gives rise to opportunity for graft and corruption. There are reports that some legislators demand kickbacks or commissions -- as high as 50% -- from contractors and suppliers. Corruption is more prevalent in public work construction projects where bidders could collude to fix their bids; thus, allowing kickbacks -- or “tongpats” -- to be embedded in their lump sum bids.
Gloria used the “power of the purse” to strengthen her political position and exercise sole discretion and total control on how pork barrel funds are disbursed, and how much each legislator would receive. In other words, the legislators are at the mercy of Gloria in getting their pork. If you were not in Gloria’s good graces, you would end up with nothing to spend in your district.
This led former Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Emilia Boncodin to accuse Gloria of practicing “selective release” of pork barrel funds which means that only those close to Gloria would get the funds.
Biggest pork barrel in history
In 2005, Gloria used more than P80 billion for pork barrel -- that’s 10 times the normal amount! -- for projects in which most were shrouded in mystery. More than half of this -- P46.8 billion -- were allocated for “Healing of Edsa I, II and III Funds.” When asked in a radio interview, then Budget Secretary Romulo Neri explained that the P46.8-billion “healing of Edsa wounds” fund included P29 billion for “back pension payments for retired Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police personnel.” That’s a hell of a lot of money! Shouldn’t they be included in the Department of National Defense and Philippine National Police budgets? Or was it used surreptitiously to keep the military “loyal” to Gloria during the “Hello Garci” election cheating scandal and Edsa III uprising?
In 2008, former Speaker Joe de Venecia revealed that Gloria controlled the legislators’ pork barrel through her sons, Congressmen Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo and Diosdado “Dato” Arroyo. According to De Venecia, the legislators couldn’t get their pork barrel approved by Gloria without her sons’ endorsements. It is no wonder then that several impeachment petitions against Gloria were defeated by her allies in Congress. Who would dare infuriate her and risk losing his pork?
Indeed, by controlling the pork barrel allocations of the congressmen, Gloria became the “Supreme Overlord” of the House of Representatives. Their mantra was: “What Gloria wants, Gloria gets.” And anyone who would buck her would get a kick in the back. De Venecia found that out when, in a swift act, he was unceremoniously ousted from the Speakership by his party mates whom he thought were his friends. Sorry, pal, but as someone once said, “There are no permanent friends and no permanent enemies, only permanent self-interest.”
Abolition of the pork
In 2009, Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero introduced Resolution No. 900 “urging the Senate committee on Finance to cause the immediate review and accordingly propose the repeal or amendment of Presidential Decree No. 1177 and Book VI of Executive Order No. 292, specifically all provisions pertinent to budget preparation, disposition and management, with the end in view of reverting to Congress the power of the purse as prescribed by the Constitution.”
A few weeks ago, Escudero -- a proponent of the abolition of the pork barrel system -- said that Gloria “has been exercising her power to impound pork not because of any lofty purpose but to give out or withhold political favor to help her allies and to strangle her political opponents.”
Last year, Gloria released P459 million in pork barrel funds for infrastructure projects in her son Mikey’s 2nd district of Pampanga. This is seven times more than a typical allocation. But what is appalling is that Gloria is running for Congress in Pampanga’s second district and billboards were erected all over the district showing her picture wearing a hard hat, claiming credit for all the infrastructure improvements in her son’s district. Obviously, she’s using pork barrel funds for her congressional campaign. It may be deemed legal because it was part of the PDAF general appropriation. However, as Congresswoman Ana Theresia Baraquel commented, Gloria’s use of pork barrel funds was “improper” and “shameless” spending.
With Gloria running for Congress virtually unopposed, she could easily become the next Speaker of the House of Representatives. She’d then be closer to her ultimate goal of amending the constitution to change the form of government to a parliamentary system.
Is the country ready for a structural change of government? In my opinion, the country is not yet ready, not until we have a leader who has the best interests of the country and the people in mind. Right now, that leader has yet to emerge. But with 10 presidential candidates in the May 10 elections, there should be one that would rise above the others to take the biggest challenge of the presidency; that is, abolish pork barrel.
No pork, no fat.
(PerryDiaz@gmail.com)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)