'Noy against pork barrel abolition'

MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno Aquino III does not favor the proposals seeking to abolish the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or "pork barrel" of legislators, Malacañang said on Friday.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said Aquino stressed the importance of the PDAF in bringing up local concerns to the national attention.

"What he said was: ang trabaho ng national government is to look at the macro concerns. 'Yung local po sa kanila yung micro concerns. And sino ho ba yung nasa position para malaman ano ho 'yung essential dun sa community?" Valte said at a televised press briefing.

"Sabi niya it is really the share of the constituents in the budget yung PDAF so technically, ang trabaho ng isang legislator ay to bring to the attention of the national government yung mga concerns na hindi ho napapansin on the national level ngunit kailangan ng distrito, o kaya nung bayan, o munisipyo na hindi kayang pondohan ng local government unit," she said.

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago has filed a resolution that seeks to phase out lawmakers' pork barrel by 2016.

Related story: Miriam files resolution abolishing pork barrel

The Palace's remarks and Santiago's proposal came after an alleged scam involving the diversion of pork barrel funds of several lawmakers was recently exposed.

The pork barrel of these lawmakers are allegedly poured into dummy non-government organizations (NGOs) purportedly for ghost projects worth over P10 billion.

Malacañang assured that the ongoing investigation of the National Bureau of Investigation into the alleged pork barrel scam will be impartial and objective.

“The investigation is such that it is impartial and that it is very objective. If in the future, there are witnesses who will come out and will submit affidavits then, of course, they will be considered,” Valte said.