‘Pork’ barrels in the Year of the Pig

The Philippines observed yesterday the Chinese Lunar New Year as the beginning of the year of the pig. It was celebrated this year as a special non-working holiday in honor of the huge Chinese community in our country and the rich heritage of their culture that we Filipinos have assimilated through the years. It used to be a “working” special holiday during the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as a tradition to mark the industry of the Chinese people.

Adopting a more China-friendly policy, President Rodrigo Duterte declared the Chinese Lunar New Year a special non-working holiday all over the country.

Called as the “Year of the Pig” following the Chinese Lunar calendar, the year 2019 is ushered in the Philippines by the recurrence of re-enacted budget that now runs government operations. This came after the 17th Congress failed to pass into law the proposed General Appropriations Act (GAA) bill for 2019 before Dec. 31 last year.

Actually, the 2019 GAA bill was off to a very early start when President Duterte submitted it on the day he delivered his state of the nation address (SONA) on July 23 last year. However, the blitzkrieg of the House leadership that saw the ouster of then Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez a few hours before President Duterte was to deliver his SONA at the Batasan Pambansa, set off a series of consequences for all concerned.

Former President and now Pampanga Congresswo-man Arroyo was elected to replace Alvarez, triggering the rest of the leadership changes at the Lower House all the way to committee chairmanships. The proposed 2019 GAA was among the administration bills of President Duterte that got sidelined at the House. Naturally, the legislative mills that included those at the Senate were also affected.

In the aftermath of these ensuing events, the feud over alleged “pork” barrel allocations in the 2019 budget bill spread among the Senators and the House of Representatives. And also over alleged “pork” insertions by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) headed by Secretary Benjamin Diokno.

The latest words from the leaders of both the Senate and the House of Representatives indicated their supposedly having come to terms to finally approve the consolidated version of the proposed P3.76 trillion budget for 2019. Both chambers of the 17th Congress will adjourn this week before the official election campaign period starts on Feb. 12.

Many of the incumbent members of the 17th Congress are either up for re-election or will run for the Senate or for local government posts. They will attempt to make a clean breast of the stalled approval of the budget law before making any election campaign promises.

This, our lawmakers promised to do before hitting the campaign trail.

The “pork” feud became a bone of contention when key leaders and members of the House committee on appropriations led by erstwhile House majority leader, Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. initially wrangled with Diokno over unexplained hefty allocations for flood control projects in Sorsogon.

At first, Diokno cooperated when he was asked to appear at the House “Question Hour” to explain and shed light on these budget issues. But the DBM chief was caught in a tight fix when he was suddenly asked during the “Question Hour” with new allegations of his supposed relatives having cornered juicy contracts in various infrastructure projects under the DBM Procurement Services.

Finding his self being pilloried at the floor and blindsided, Diokno retreated and refused to further cooperate. Intervening in his behalf, Malacañang sought to clarify the rules of engagement for Cabinet officials appearing before congressional committee hearings. Diokno sent words to Andaya et.al.: “Pending that, I may opt not to appear before congressional committee hearings.”

After stepping down as House majority leader, Andaya took over as chairman of the House appropriations committee where he continued his tirades against Diokno. The appropriations committee has issued a show-cause order to Diokno for him to explain his repeated snub of the budget hearings.

Andaya warned Diokno against the latter’s continued defiance not to attend and appear at the next House public hearing. Diokno could be cited for contempt and penalty of being taken and detained at the Lower House.        

 In the meantime, Andaya conceded to recommend for House plenary approval the GAA bill by today even if the issues he had raised against Diokno remain unresolved. Thus, the bicameral conference (bicam) can ratify the measure by tomorrow or Friday at the latest when both chambers adjourn session for the campaign period.

Andaya said the Executive Branch would just have to live with the final results of the bicam version of the 2019 GAA bill. “At any rate, the DBM has the tools to fix everything,” Andaya pointed out. He should know what he is talking about. After all, Andaya once served as DBM Secretary during the Arroyo administration.

While Andaya has virtually raised the white flag in surrender, a bicam member of the Senate panel remains unimpressed and unconvinced why the House resistance gave up their fight on the 2019 GAA bill, Sen. Panfilo Lacson. With single-minded focus in studying line-by-line the voluminous books of the 2019 GAA bill, Lacson can only do so much to moderate the greed, if not totally stop it in the ideal world.

In his Twitter account, @iampinglacson, the Senator posted his call: “Mr. President, you have displayed your strong political will on several occasions. This time, use your line-item veto power over the 2019 appropriations measure by removing all the ‘pork’ inserted by lawmakers who are incorrigibly insatiable and simply “beyond redemption.”

These reported “pork” barrel allocations and other budget insertions that stalled the 2019 GAA bill in Congress will now be approved during the “Year of the Pig.” Unless otherwise vetoed by President Duterte, this year’s GAA will contain these “pork” insertions. Aptly, it fits 2019 as the Year of the Pig.