Napkin, whisper politics bared

In crafting the budget, some lawmakers submit their amendments, sometimes amounting to hundreds of millions if not billions of pesos, by a mere whisper or using a piece of paper napkin.

Others submit their amendments by whispering or (submit) a piece of paper or napkin to the chairman of the Finance Committee

This was revealed by Sen. Panfilo Lacson yesterday as he justified his P30.4 billion institutional amendments to the P3.757 trillion proposed 2019 national budget.

“All of my amendments ever since are written on official form. These are open documents that can be scrutinized,” Lacson said on radio.

“Others submit their amendments by whispering or (submit) a piece of paper or napkin to the chairman of the Finance Committee because they are not official and they don’t like to show it,” he added.

The Senate Finance Committee is chaired by Sen. Loren Legarda, a graduating senator and seeking the lone congressional district of Antique province.

Lacson admitted being the source of institutional amendments for the Department of National Defense-Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, Commission on Human Rights and Dangerous Drugs Board.

“All in all, it could reach P30 billion, but I don’t have bridges, road networks, flood control, road right-of-way (RRoW) projects and feasibility study. You be the judge – are these individual amendments or ‘pork’ or institutional amendments?” Lacson asked.

Lacson has been indiscriminate in scrutinizing the budget, publicly stating that some fellow senators inserted P23 billion in what he described as individual amendments that he considered as “pork barrel.”

Pork barrel is the lump sum given to legislators, otherwise named Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), that the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional in a 2013 ruling.

Lacson noted that in one province alone, at least one senator allotted P3.3 billion while other insertions made by senators include items that are worth P2.3 billion and P2.7 billion in the budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways.

Lacson said the pork was intended for projects such as flood control structures, national and local roads, water management, multi-purpose facilities, bridges, feasibility studies and RRoW that are all prone to corruption.

“Who will conduct the feasibility study? The senator? Is it not the agency that should do that? And feasibility study should have been done before the passage of the budget. That’s planning,” Lacson said.

The senator said lawmakers, including his fellow senators and members of the House of Representatives, should make public their own amendments in the P3.757 trillion proposed 2019 national budget.

“It’s their call if they want to make public their amendments. It’s not for me to make that public,” said Lacson when asked to name the senators.

On the other hand, he claimed each of the more than 290 members of the House would receive P160 million.

“The challenge applies to all who introduced amendments, individual or institutional. Let them make public their amendments, so the public can judge if it’s pork. That is much better than resorting to lies and cover-up,” he said.

Lacson has been accused of being a hypocrite by Rep. Anthony Bravo in branding budget amendments by congressmen as “pork barrel” while declaring as institutional amendments those made by senators.

But the senator was quick to slam Bravo and House Majority Leader Fredenil Castro, branding them as talking heads of Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo “What Speaker GMA’s talking heads obviously do not realize is that they’re actually advancing my cause in educating the public more about the ‘evil pork’ in the national budget. I earnestly urge them to continue this public discourse. Many thanks to Cong. Castro and Bravo,” Lacson said.

Lacson lashed back at Bravo, accusing the partylist congressman of lying when he claimed the senator referred to amendments by the Senate as institutional amendments and those by the House as pork.

“If he intended to be truthful about his statements, he should not have skipped my revelation about the P23 billion insertions made by a number of senators on the Department of Public Works and Highways’ budget alone,” he said.

“What I cannot understand is why Bravo would be conveniently selective in his recollection of facts. I hope he would be truthful and not resort to lying,” he added.

On the other hand, Castro had similarly dared Lacson to “explain” the institutional amendments he made in the budget.

The bicameral conference committee on the 2019 national budget, headed by Senate Finance Committee chair Loren Legarda and House Appropriations Committee head Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr., is still deliberating on the measure.

The committee, however, committed to pass the budget before Congress adjourns on 6 February.

Castro reiterated that the P160 million that Lacson called as pork was deliberated before being included in the 2019 General Appropriations Bill.

Castro clarified that the P160 million allocation per congressman was itemized and this is “pre-enacted” as opposed to PDAF.

“This P160 million was (in the) line item. It was included in the GAA (General Appropriations Act). This is pre-enacted. Which means this was being deliberated even before the approval of the appropriation bill,” the House leader said.

Castro, who called Lacson a “self-proclaimed anti-pork barrel crusader,” further explained yesterday that these items that were included in the P160 million allocation per congressman were requests from their constituents in their respective congressional districts which the senators do not have.