House realigns Binay’s P200-million ‘pork’

MANILA, Philippines - The House of Representatives has realigned not only the P25-billion Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) but Vice President Jejomar Binay’s P200-million pork barrel fund as well.

“Yes, the Vice President’s fund was also realigned to agencies where we allocated the PDAF,” Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, House appropriations committee chairman, said yesterday.

He said Binay may write the agencies to recommend projects or beneficiaries of assistance, but that agency officials ultimately make the decision.

He said the realignment of Binay’s pork barrel fund means that the 2014 budget for the Office of the Vice President would go down to P217 million.

The reduction will be reflected in the clean copy of the proposed P2.268-trillion national budget for next year, which will be up for a third-reading vote when Congress resumes session next week, he added.

Although Binay would lose his P200- million pork, he would still have P85 million for “subsidies and donations” to help his scholars and other people seeking financial assistance from him.

His budget for such assistance is P15 million more than the annual PDAF of a congressman.

The House realigned Binay’s P200-million pork barrel fund after declaring that it is in the nature of a PDAF allocation.

The amount actually originated from the congressional pork barrel. It was the unspent fund of President Aquino when he was still senator. Aquino allocated it to Binay when the two of them won in the May 2010 elections.

In 2012, it was integrated into the OVP annual budget but with the same conditions and limitations as the lawmakers’ PDAF.

During the House deliberations on the proposed 2014 OVP budget.