THE camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay on Sunday accused the Liberal Party of using P100 billion as "grease money" to bribe local executives to win votes for its standard bearer Manuel Roxas II in the May elections.
United Nationalist Alliance spokesman Mon Ilagan said the money from the administration's Bottom Up Budgeting program could be called "Bribe Ur Barangay" to make Roxas win.
He said the administration had been desperate as a result of Roxas’ poor showing in the surveys.
“The Bribe Ur Barangay is the newest localized version of pork-barrel politics,” Ilagan said.
“The power of the LP’s purse is energized by the administration’s CCT and BUB projects.”
Ilagan said the BUB’s rationale was no longer developmental but envelopmental and no longer economics but politics.
He said the ruling party had been dangling billions of money from the nation’s coffers for election purposes. He said about P25 billion was tucked in the 2016 national budget for the BUB.
“Some P24.7 billion was inserted in the national budget and this is so far the biggest pork barrel in election year history,” said Ilagan as he cited the warning issued by Binay.
Binay has told voters to accept the bribe money but to vote for the candidates they prefer.
“Take the money but follow your conscience and your heart. Vote wisely,” Binay said.
During the National Assembly of the Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas and Forum on the BUB the other day, Roxas promised to give village officials access to as much as P100 billion in funds each year.
“No matter how Mar and the LP call it or sweeten the packaging, it is still legalized vote-buying because it is meant to influence the people’s voting preferences,” Ilagan said.
He said the BUB aside, the administration was also using the Conditional Cash Transfer program or dole to the poor to win the support of local officials and voters.