Pork Barrel Scam Our Share of the Cake

We have so far been complaining about the PORK BARREL scam. The news that our congressmen and senators have stolen billions of pesos from government funds, generally meant to help underprivileged Filipinos like farmers, fishermen and so forth upset us so much. And, I believe we are right in feeling and keeping such sentiment. We have all the reasons to point our fingers towards specific government officials who think that because they are on top they have the freedom to use our tax-money as they want and when they want. So far we say that so much money was stolen by our elected and trusted officials through Janet Lim Napoles, the so-called, Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) queen. To be exact, the said senators and congressmen have stolen more than 10 billion pesos of PDAF from 2007 up until 2009. That is according to Commission on Audit (CoA). That’s a lot of money to disappear from the government treasury in a span of three years without anybody knowing it. If indeed nobody knows, which I doubt very much. I mean, it’s beyond my comprehension how the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) release so much money without even asking where and how the money is being spent. And it is also surprising that it took CoA six long years before it realises that so much money was being used in fraud.

So, if anybody should take any responsibility, then DBM and CoA should not just wash their hands, as if they have done nothing wrong and point their fingers on others. They should also take part of the responsibility of that long running deception. After all, if they truly and honestly do their jobs, they are supposed to do an annual audit of government funds. So, how did corruption go unnoticed for as long as three years or perhaps even more?

If you think that the P10B stolen by senators and congressmen is too big, well, wait until you know how much PDAF, in the form of discretionary fund, malampaya fund and so on, the president has. Each congressman has P70M PDAF per year. The Vice President and senators are allotted P200M PDAF per year. But, what about the president of the republic? Last year alone, the president’s discretionary fund amounted to P102 billion (cf. http://globalbalita.com/2013/08/09/aquino-discretionary-funds-hit-p102b-in-2-years-solon/). In fact, with a lot of details, the so-called “makabayan bloc” in congress clearly said that the president’s pork goes up to more than P1-trillion. They said that President Aquino has “more than P1-trillion discretionary funds that are not subject to audit" (cf. http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/index.php/en/news/economy/19158-proposed-2014-budget-retains-aquino-lawmakers-pork-says-makabayan-bloc). It might be too much to say. But with this government, everything is possible. What is however surprising, if not revolting is the word “not subject to audit.” Who has given the president or anybody for that matter the right to use government money without being subjected to any audit? How do we know what he is doing with that enormous amount? It’s our money, not his. Remember?

What makes this whole thing even more surprising though, is that, the 2014 budget “still contains the P25.24-billion allocation for Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), along with the Special Purpose Funds (SPFs) and various lump-sum items comprising presidential pork” (cf. http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/index.php/en/news/economy/19158-proposed-2014-budget-retains-aquino-lawmakers-pork-says-makabayan-bloc). This happens even though majority of Filipinos are calling for it to be totally abolished. That is, including whatever presidential fund allocated in a form of a pork barrel. Maybe they simply cannot imagine themselves without the PDAF thing. Perhaps for the simple reason that most of our law-makers get their power from PDAF and not from the fact that they are elected by the Filipino people. Or, to put it simply and clearly, our politicians know that without PDAF, they will not have anything to buy votes come election time and therefore cannot win. After all, whether we like it or not, our politicians use their pork barrel to buy and manipulate every Filipino to their advantage during elections or even off election periods.

Many Filipinos are appalled and dismayed with the perception of Philippines as a “corrupt nation” after the latest issue of BizNews Asia labeled the Philippine congress as the “Philippines’ biggest criminal syndicate”. (cf.
http://www.mb.com.ph/netizens-dismayed-angry-at-lawmakers-after-magazine-cover-brands-congress-criminal-syndicate/http://www.mb.com.ph/netizens-dismayed-angry-at -lawmakers-after-the-magazine-cover-brands-congress-criminal-syndicate/). More than being dismayed, I think we should be ashamed to hear this. However, this is a reality our country is facing right now.

But are we right to blame only those on top in the whole PDAF event? Well, perhaps we have also to remember that each one of us have a rule to play in this whole issue. This is not only about senators and congressmen. This is about all of us as Filipinos. Well, I’m not saying that we are all thieves. I’m only saying that we have a part to play in the whole story for several reasons.

First, majority of Filipinos don’t really care about what their political leaders are doing. I just wonder how many of us know what bills and laws our congressmen and senators submitted, if any or supported and passed during their terms. I also wonder if we know that any bill they submit, if passed into law can affect us in our day-to-day life whether positively or negatively.

Second, we allow these politicians to use us. During elections politicians promise us so many things. And whatever they say, we swallow them readily. We don’t even think if what they say are true or viable or not. That is why most, if not all of their election promises are broken and forgotten the moment they sit in office.

Third, we tend to forget very easily. Sometimes, I wonder how we, Filipinos elect our leaders. I mean, how can people who have been convicted of a crime be elected into public office? Some people are even in prison serving a prison term after a particular conviction at the time they are elected. I take for instance Romeo Jalosjos, he was elected into congress while still serving a prison term after being convicted of raping a minor beyond reasonable doubt. Sen. Antonio Trillanes III, was also serving a prison term after being convicted for rebellion, if I’m not mistaken. Former President Gloria Arroyo, has been elected and re-elected into congress while being in a “hospital arrest.” She has not been convicted yet. But how can she truly represent the people of her congressional district if she is under arrest? Former President Joseph Estrada has also been convicted for plunder and now he is a mayor of Manila. We know that he has been granted executive clemency  by then President Gloria Arroyo, which made him eligible again to run for any public office. But being eligible to run should not necessarily mean victory. Anyway, he is in office now and so are the many other convicts and ex-convicts. And all this tells us only one thing. We forget or perhaps forgive a little too easily. So, we have to remember, if we hire a thief, then we should not blame anybody if he steals our money. I’m not saying that they will. But they might.

Fourth, we ask and expect so much from our politicians. If we are sick, we go to the politicians, to mayor, governor, congressman, etc. If we have no money for tuition fees, we go to the politicians. If we have no food, we go to the politicians. If we need this and that, we go to the politicians. I mean, they are not gods. So, we should not go to them for anything and everything especially if what we ask for are more personal than national. They are supposed to help and serve the country, not necessarily individuals.

Fifth, and probably the most dangerous of all, we ask money from our politicians. During elections, I know so many people who will not vote before they get money from as many candidates as possible. I know a particular mayoralty candidate last election who gave as much as P1500 per voter just to get the people’s favour. I know this for a fact because this was happening before my very eyes. I think it’s good to remember this. No matter how honest and well-intentioned a candidate is when s/he runs for public office, if s/he spends a lot more than s/he earns during his or her term, he/she will be forced to steal. In short, he will have to be corrupt in order to recuperate whatever he spent during election. And, corruption can be addicting. That is why when they finish their term in one particular government office, they look for another one elsewhere. And, they will not stop as long as they live. As if politics is a lifetime commitment.

I think we have to recognize the fact that the real score is not only with corrupt politicians and leaders. The problem is in the system itself that is forcing leaders to be corrupt. Therefore, if we truly want to stop corruption, then we have to change the very system that allows and forces our leaders and elected officials to be corrupt.

To sum-up all this. I think it is but proper to say that painful it maybe, we have a share, a slice in this whole cake called corruption.