Release of ‘pork barrel’ tightened

The Aquino administration has tightened the release of pork barrel to senators and representatives to stem its misuse especially in the run-up to the campaign in next year’s midterm elections, according to the Department of Budget.

The pork barrel, called the Priority Development Assistance Fund  (PDAF), provides funding for the pet projects of congressmen and senators. It has been known to be a source of enrichment for certain legislators who receive kickbacks from private contractors handling their projects.

Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad Jr. said the administration had “fine-tuned” the list of eligible projects for the P24.89-billion PDAF allocation this year and the release process as part of efforts to prevent abuses in the use of the pork barrel.

“The House of Representatives and the Department of Budget and Management have agreed that only one realignment will be allowed. We foresee a lot of requests for changes as we approach [the] 2013 elections with expected political alignments and realignments taking place,” said Abad in a text message. [A PADF allocation is realigned when its use is changed.]

The release of the pork barrel has been delayed because of requests by senators and representatives to change the projects they had submitted for funding “sometimes even after the special allotment release order (Saro) has already been issued,” Abad said.

A Saro is released by the DBM to advise lawmakers that funds have been allocated for their PDAF and public works funds.

A senator is entitled to P200 million and a member of the House  is allocated P70 million in PDAF yearly.

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