spot_img
29 C
Philippines
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Pork parking and the reenacted budget

- Advertisement -

"Let us not allow the pigs in power to take our silence for acquiescence."

 

It has been more than five years since the multi-billion-peso pork barrel scam involving Janet Lim Napoles resulted in a series of protests top-billed by the Million People March in Luneta on August 26, 2013. With up to P10 billion in Priority Development Assistance Funds funneled illegally to bogus non-government organizations just between 2007 and 2009, it appeared to be a systematic operation involving a number of government agencies and many government officials.

The message of the march, which was held simultaneously with protest actions in other major cities, was clear: scrap the pork barrel system and make people accountable. Then-President Benigno Aquino III indeed had abolished the PDAF days before the march, saying that “greater change is necessary to fight against those who are determined to abuse the system.”

For what it’s worth, the magnitude of the scandal would forever tarnish the pork barrel system but also the sort of free-for-all lump sum appropriation that PDAF allowed. However, five years after the outrage and promise of reform, pork’s specter is once again rearing its ugly head.

The new scheme to amass kickbacks from unspecified budget appropriations has been called “parked pork” by Sen. Panfilo Lacson, according to reports. The modus goes like this: large amounts of pork are “parked” in the allotments of so-called “well-connected” lawmakers, who then offer it to districts that are not as well-connected, on condition that favored contractors are chosen for the said projects.

- Advertisement -

“In an investigator’s mind like mine, the only logical conclusion for retaining the contractor as a precondition to divert his allocation to another district is ‘commission’ or kickback from the contractor,” Lacson said, adding that the favored lawmakers—congressmen and senators both—would get billions’ worth of pork, enough to spread the wealth around, as it were.

The modus was revealed earlier in December, and it became clear that the much-derided pork was all but back. All in all, some P272 billion worth of pork had allegedly been divided among members of Congress.

Even more worrisome is that the government will be operating under a reenacted budget after Congress failed to pass the 2019 General Appropriations Act (GAA) before it adjourned in December. Some senators said the delay was due to last-minute pork barrel insertions by some members of the lower house.

As a result, the calendar points to a reenacted budget at least until the first week of February. The senate said it expects to approve the budget on second and third reading by January 16. The bicameral conference committee will then reconcile the two versions of the bill until January 23 and ratify the bicam report on January 29. If things go according to schedule, President Duterte will sign the budget on February 7.

It might seem like a brief delay but the repercussions may be enormous. Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said, for starters, that reenacting the national budget—the first in nine years and for the Duterte administration—will slow down economic growth as it derails the administration’s much-vaunted infrastructure agenda.

“Under a reenacted budget, no new infrastructure projects can start because the capital outlays component of the previous year’s budget cannot be deemed reenacted,” he said.

And because the Build Build Build program is precisely geared to spur development and contribute toward poverty reduction, any snag in the implementation can have dire implications.

With the exception of “large projects covered by Multi-Year Obligational Authority” as well as the Internal Revenue Allotment for local government units, things like the salary increases for civilian and military personnel set for the year will also face some delays as the budget for personnel services and maintenance and other operating expenses will be reenacted.

The reenacted budget for the first quarter of the year will reduce total disbursements by P43.7 billion, according to estimates by the Department of Management, Diokno said.

“This will be detrimental to the economic growth and development objectives of the Duterte administration. The government intends to ramp up investments on public infrastructure, poverty alleviation, and social services,” he added.

To mitigate the impact of the reenacted budget on economic growth, DBM has issued some guidelines on fund releases. These include the 25-percent cap for government agency for the first quarter of the year. DBM also said the budget could be used for all types of expenditures: personnel services, maintenance and operating expenses, and capital outlays. A Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) will be issued for an agency’s special budget request.

“The sooner the 2019 GAA is passed, the better for the economy and the Filipino people. Ramping up our investments on infrastructure and social services will only be sustainable if the budget is authorized by Congress,” Diokno said.

The return of the pork barrel system just five years after a huge scandal that all but discredited it attests to a kind of obscene greed and impunity by some government officials. The P750 billion that lay susceptible to corruption is staggering and unimaginable by any measure. Thus, from the “parked pork” scheme to the reenacted budget, the country’s coffers are once again under threat. As Filipinos welcome the Year of the Pig—an election year—it is incumbent for voters to remain vigilant, lest the pigs in power take our silence for acquiescence.

- Advertisement -

LATEST NEWS

Popular Articles