PDAF abolished: Noy orders overhaul of ‘pork’ system

MANILA, Philippines - Three days before a netizen-organized rally against the congressional pork barrel, President Aquino declared yesterday he was abolishing the corruption-tainted funding vehicle officially called the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

“It is time to abolish the PDAF,” Aquino said in an unscheduled press conference at Malacañang.

He said the PDAF would be replaced with a line item budgeting system, still without an official name, to make it less susceptible to corruption.

Critics immediately called the President’s announcement misleading, saying his tack was PDAF by another name.

“Now, we will create a new mechanism to address the needs of your constituents and sectors, in a manner that is transparent, methodical and rational, and not susceptible to abuse or corruption,” the President said.

He was flanked by Senate President Franklin Drilon and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. when he made the televised announcement.

“Greater change is necessary to fight against those who are determined to abuse the system,” the President said.

The PDAF is a single or lump sum item in the annual General Appropriations Act (GAA), with House members automatically getting P70 million each and senators, P200 million.

Calls for PDAF abolition snowballed following the discovery of the activities of businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles who had reportedly connived with some lawmakers in cornering huge chunks of PDAF through bogus non-government organizations. A Commission on Audit (COA) report would later detail the wheeling and dealing between corrupt lawmakers and private individuals representing questionable NGOs and foundations from 2007 to 2009.

Aquino, who had been vocal against calls for the scrapping of PDAF, said his change of heart was not meant to preempt Monday’s rally in Rizal Park.

“Why would I get nervous? It only goes to show that many are helping us reform the system. I’m grateful to them,” he said.

Aquino said that under the system being worked out, the government would make sure that every citizen and sector would get equitable share in the national budget for health services, scholarships, livelihood generating projects and local infrastructure.

He said that from now on, legislators may identify and suggest projects for districts, but these would have to go through the budgetary process.

“If approved, these projects will be earmarked as line items, under the programs of your national government. In this way, they will be enacted into law as part of our national budget – every line, every peso, and every project open to scrutiny, as with all other programs of your government,” Aquino said.

Menu based

The President said they would continue the practice of funding only projects chosen from a specific menu.

He said lawmakers may no longer include consumable “soft projects,” such as purchase of fertilizers, seeds, medicine, medical kits, dentures, and training materials, as well as sports fests.

He said the impact of such projects cannot be conclusively identified and thus are vulnerable to corruption.

Temporary infrastructure projects like dredging, de-silting, re-graveling or asphalt overlay projects, Aquino said, would no longer be entitled to line budgeting.

The President also said the funds can no longer be disbursed to NGOs and certain government-owned and controlled corporations such as ZNAC Rubber Estate Corp. (ZREC) and National Agribusiness Corp. (Nabcor), which are set to be abolished.

“The funds must be limited to the district or sector of the legislator who sponsored it. All items will be subject to open and competitive bidding, with all bid notices and awards posted in the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System or PhilGEPS,” Aquino said.

“So that the public may monitor the implementation themselves, we will make sure that each item will be disclosed in the DBM (Department of Budget and Management) and related agency websites and the National Data Portal of the government,” he added.

There will be exemptions to line item budgeting, specifically for calamity or contingency funds since these cannot be itemized prior to calamities or disasters.

In his message, Aquino said unscrupulous officials and lawmakers have given PDAF a bad name, prompting him to make a decision to have the system restructured.

He also stressed allocation for each lawmaker cannot be completely scrapped as they have already started projects like scholarships or medical assistance for indigents.

Worthy objectives

Aquino said the PDAF was established in 1990 with worthy objectives, particularly to help lawmakers identify and arrange funding for community-based projects.

“There is nothing intrinsically wrong with this policy. But what is wrong – indeed, what has outraged our people – was the collusion among a former president ready to trade favors just to remain in power, legislators, and members of the bureaucracy who were willing to conspire, enabled by a passive and indifferent citizenry,” Aquino said, apparently referring to his predecessor, now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“All these factors put together make the PDAF prone to abuse. We need to make sure the system can no longer be abused,” he said.

He assailed those treating the PDAF as their own private funds.

“This is clearly wrong: what is involved here is the people’s money. It should be used for the benefit of the people, and not for the benefit of a few greedy individuals,” Aquino said.

The President said the revelations contained in the COA special audit report were scandalous.

Accountability

The President vowed to make accountable those who had abused the system.

“We believe that a transparent process can reduce abuses of the system. We ordered that the PDAF provided to every legislator be included and noted in the national budget; and we prohibited congressional insertions,” he said.

“The existing menu for PDAF projects was limited in scope, unlike in the past when funds could be indiscriminately allotted for project or program,” Aquino said.

“Now, we also ask that the project details be submitted as a condition for approving it, unlike in the past where projects had very general definitions,” he added.

With project details posted on government websites, he urged the public to help monitor the process, from bidding to implementation.