As the Philippines continues to reel from the recent pork barrel scam, it has become apparent that there needs to be a clearer definition of what pork barrel really is.

Pork barrel refers to congressional allocations such as the Priority Development Assistance Fund, Department of Public Works and Highways lump sum allocations and financial subsidies to local government units. They are part of the budgetary allocation given to the House of Representative and the Senate. Senators get around P200 million each while the Representatives get around P70 million.

There have been a little over 90,000 project entries for the legislators’ pork barrel. Roughly P83.27 billion was reportedly spent for these projects.

The following is a summary of how a pork barrel allocation comes to fruition:

1. Finding the worthy

Lawmakers’ offices regularly receive various requests for assistance from local government units and other organizations. The lawmakers identify the potential projects that merit funding.

2. Sent to the committee

The request is then sent to the Senate finance committee or the House appropriations committee. It must include a project list. The chairman of the appropriate committee then endorses the request to the House Speaker or the Senate President, who then sends it to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

3. Money

After the submission of nominees, the DBM usually takes charge and vets the incoming proposals. The DBM then approves or rejects the ideas and releases money for those approved. That money then gets sent to the implementing agency.

4. Money transfer

Once it reaches the implementing agency, the money is generally transferred to the government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC).

5. Making a judgment

The GOCC is a critical component, as it is the set-up that allows workers to vet the credentials of the non-government organizations that are asking for money. Once this final check-up is finished, the transfer of funds is complete.

Sources: rappler.com and gmanetwork.com