No Napoles at ‘Pork Barrel’ restaurant

MANILA, Philippines - The name is controversial, but the owner of Pork Barrel Bar and Grill Restaurant along Kalayaan Avenue in Quezon City assures its customers that the controversy ends with the name.

“Napoles is not here,” jested owner Baby Cruz during an interview with The STAR. She was referring to fugitive Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged mastermind of the P10-billion pork barrel scam.

“Our capital did not come from the pork barrel of politicians,” she said, adding that the success of the restaurant is the result of her family’s hard work.

The Pork Barrel Bar and Grill Restaurant – initially located along Congressional Avenue in Quezon City – was conceptualized by Cruz, her husband and some of their friends in 1999.

Cruz said they initially wanted to name the joint “Pork Barrel sa Congress” because of its location.

“But the Department of Trade and Industry did not approve that name. They said it was very political,” she said, noting that discussions on the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), or congressional pork barrel, were also heated at the time.

“We changed it to Pork Barrel Bar and Grill Restaurant and it was approved,” she said.

Nipa huts in the restaurant used to be named after popular congressmen, but this was discontinued to avoid controversy.

“Some people even asked if the restaurant is owned by a congressman. We said no. We even had to apply for a loan when we started it,” Cruz recalled.

From the lone branch on Congressional Avenue, the owners later opened another along Timog Avenue. The two branches, however, had to be moved to another location when the owners of the lots decided to sell the properties.

“We were just renting the areas,” Cruz said. “If I had the money (allegedly owned by) Napoles, I would have purchased the properties myself,” Cruz said.

The main branch was moved to Kalayaan Avenue, while the Timog branch was relocated along Quirino Highway. In 2010, a third Pork Barrel restaurant opened in Antipolo City.

What’s in the name ‘pork’?

The term pork barrel, in its political sense, is used to refer to the budget allocation provided for members of Congress to fund their pet projects.

Former US Senator Robert Byrd, in his book The Senate 1789-1989: Addresses on the History of the United States Senate, attributes the etymology of the term to a 1919 article in the National Municipal Review.

In the article, members of the US Congress, “in the stampede to get their local appropriation items into the omnibus river and harbor bills,” were likened to slaves scrambling to get a share of the pork in barrels given to them by their masters.

In the case of Cruz, however, the process of naming the restaurant was much easier.

“We wanted something catchy,” she said. “At the time, a lot of people were talking about the pork barrel.”

Aside from the restaurant’s apt location along Congressional Avenue, Cruz said they decided to choose “Pork Barrel” because their specialty is grilled pork and they used to serve beers in barrels. “Serving beer in bottles was not popular back then.”

Politicians in ‘Pork Barrel’

Strategically located near the Quezon City Hall, the restaurant is frequented by city officials. A number of politicians, particularly from nearby Caloocan City, have also dined at the restaurant back when it was located along Congressional Avenue.

But instead of talking about pork barrel and other political issues, personalities would ask about the recipe of the sisig and other meals.

Cruz has observed that customers often order the “Sizzling Congress Seafood Delight” and the “Pork Barrel Special Inihaw Platter.” – With Eva Visperas