The President was wrong.
It is not a time to be proud of being Filipino.
The recent controversies surrounding the Napoleses' P10 billion pork barrel scam reveal to us a harsh truth about our times: That, despite all our efforts as a nation, the war against plunder and impunity remains far from over.
We ousted Merci in 2011, arrested Arroyo after a few months, and impeached Corona in 2012. Yet beneath these well-publicized victories persists an intricate network of corruption meant to re-channel the taxes of the many into the pockets of the few. This is the system that operates beneath our institutions; this is the system of our government. And, as we study and dream today, the wealthy and the powerful have already robbed us of our tomorrow.
The Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or the congressional pork barrel is, in both appearance and reality, nothing more than an institution of patronage. In appearance, the pork barrel is intended to fund whatever projects for development congressmen and senators wish to undertake. Through this fund, legislators are given the power to prioritize, to choose whether a bridge or a strip of road should be constructed and where. In reality, the representative's constituency is lucky if the bridge or road is ever built. As we see now, the projects can be faked, and the implementing bodies - often fake NGOs - can be merely papers in a cabinet.
In the first place, congressmen should not even be given projects for development, much less the power to prioritize which projects to undertake. We were taught that the job of legislators is to legislate, not to build roads a few months before elections. In fact, such a wide opportunity to execute programs is not just open to abuse but is asking for it, as the abuse clearly shows.
Thus, the pork barrel has created a vicious cycle: The congressman magically summons fake NGOs for his first two years, takes home two years' worth of pork at P200 million or P70 million per year, and then builds roads on an election year only to take home two more years. In the end, the Filipino loses: While prioritized projects are implemented every three years, it took thousands of maternal deaths to legislate an RH law and, when they were criticized online, they criminalized cyber libel.
The Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or the congressional pork barrel is, in both appearance and reality, nothing more than an institution of patronage. In appearance, the pork barrel is intended to fund whatever projects for development congressmen and senators wish to undertake. Through this fund, legislators are given the power to prioritize, to choose whether a bridge or a strip of road should be constructed and where. In reality, the representative's constituency is lucky if the bridge or road is ever built. As we see now, the projects can be faked, and the implementing bodies - often fake NGOs - can be merely papers in a cabinet.
In the first place, congressmen should not even be given projects for development, much less the power to prioritize which projects to undertake. We were taught that the job of legislators is to legislate, not to build roads a few months before elections. In fact, such a wide opportunity to execute programs is not just open to abuse but is asking for it, as the abuse clearly shows.
Thus, the pork barrel has created a vicious cycle: The congressman magically summons fake NGOs for his first two years, takes home two years' worth of pork at P200 million or P70 million per year, and then builds roads on an election year only to take home two more years. In the end, the Filipino loses: While prioritized projects are implemented every three years, it took thousands of maternal deaths to legislate an RH law and, when they were criticized online, they criminalized cyber libel.
The links of patronage does not stop there. Being a lump sum fund in the national budget, the pork barrel is released upon the decision of the executive. The fund has therefore become a carrot and stick that can be used by the President to reward loyal congressmen and senators and to punish the opposition. Indeed, the PDAF is nothing but a euphemism for a legalized corruption.
Yet the pervasive problem of our government goes beyond pork: It is the systemic evasion of the public eye. After nearly 30 years since the Constitution enshrined the State's policy of full public disclosure and after more than a decade of calling for its passage into law, the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill which seeks simply to provide procedures for the enforcement of every citizen's right to know where his/her taxes go has never even reached the session halls. This bill was a campaign promise from President Benigno Aquino III and his slate in 2010, but it has been suppressed by both the majority and the minority in Congress. Their resistance stems from fear - fear of exposés, fear of media scandals like JLN. Who wouldn't be afraid?
What the congressmen do not understand is, by their own arguments, they have admitted their wrongs. Who stands to lose with freedom of information? No one but those who need to hide. Do these congressmen think that government is a private corporation, the dealings of which can rightfully be kept secret from the public? If so, then it is time to teach them a lesson: Public office is a public trust. Without granting the public the right to know, how are we expected to trust?
The opportunity has come to end the system of patronage and the culture of impunity in our country. We want no more pork; we want no more secret deals; we want no more Napoles.
We demand from Congress and President Benigno Aquino III, our mere representatives, our mere agents, to completely abolish pork and pass the FOI bill. Cut the P27 billion pork allocation for 2014 and re-channel the funds to education, health, and other social services. Prioritize the People's FOI Bill and certify its urgency; every day that passes is equivalent to millions of pesos lost.
It is not a time for pride. It is a time for justice.
Iskolar para sa Bayan, ating pagtagumpayan ang isang pamahalaang walang kawatan at walang tinatago!
No more Napoles! Abolish the pork barrel system! Pass the People's FOI Bill now!
