On November 19, the Supreme Court (SC) officially scrapped the controversial Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) following allegations of mishandling by legislators.
The PDAF, a lump-sum discretionary fund given to each member of Congress for their projects—and only a small fraction of the whole pork barrel system—was declared as unconstitutional by the SC after a unanimous 14-0 vote that also junked the use of Malampaya and President’s Social Funds (PSF) for purposes beyond the mandated.
Clarification of principles
The Supreme Court decision, written by Associate Justice Estela Bernabe, is in response to three petitions filed by former senatorial candidates Greco Belgica and Samson Alcantara and former Boac, Marinduque mayor Pedrito Nepomuceno.
Aside from declaring the fund’s unconstitutionality and regulating the Malampaya and the PSF, the Supreme Court in its 72-page ruling also ordered the investigation and prosecution of involved individuals “for possible criminal offenses related to the irregular, improper and/or unlawful disbursement/utilization of funds under the Pork Barrel System.”
In an interview with GMA News, House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. has expressed his approval of the Supreme Court’s decision. “I myself welcome [the decision] as a good clarification and reinforcement of the principles on which the constitution is based, namely the separation of powers of the three branches,” he said.
Ivy Lou Flores, head of the School of Social Sciences Sanggunian committee on good governance, agrees. She said, “[Because of the decision], the three branches of government will recognize the extent and limits to its powers with respect to the people’s money or public funds whichever.”
In light of the controversy, unreleased PDAF as well as the Malampaya and PSF funds will be returned to national coffers. The remaining PDAF will be used and repurposed to the supplemental budget for disaster and rehabilitation programs.
Catalyst for change
The ruling came on the heels of the highly publicized controversy involving the purported misuse by various members of Congress of their PDAF, allegedly masterminded by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.
First exposed in The Philippine Daily Inquirer on July 12, the scam has been linked to five senators and 23 congressmen, with nearly P3 billion in PDAF funds allegedly being mishandled and pocketed. The officials said to have amassed the most in kickbacks are Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and Jinggoy Estrada.
The scam was conducted by the funding of ghost projects through Napoles’ fake foundations and non-government organizations, as well as her company, which specialized in agricultural products–perfect for projects supposedly set up to benefit farmers.
Instead of being used for these projects, the money received by the companies would go back to the Congress members, with a percentage ending up in Napoles’ own pocket.
This was possible because details and specific monetary breakdowns were not required when filing requests for the release of the PDAF for certain projects. “Without a specific list of items for which the public’s money is purportedly allotted, legislators have the discretion to spend it as they please, provided that they can justify such expenses,” explains Exequiel Salcedo of the Ateneo Assembly.
Various investigations on the scandal have been conducted while some are still currently ongoing. The most notable of these investigations are those by the Office of the Ombudsman, the National Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice, the Commission on Audit and the Senate’s Blue Ribbon Committee.
Public victory, public awareness
The decision has elicited a largely positive public reaction and has been dubbed a “victory” by several anti-pork personalities.
Many are pointing out that the decision has shown the power of public vigilance, manifested through rallies such as the Million People March held in Luneta Park in August.
The Million People March was a show to the ruling class of our awareness in a whole new level. [It] wasn’t the usual kind of protest, it was [a] non-violence march that united Filipinos [who] were already so tired of being robbed by the government
“The Million People March was a show to the ruling class of our awareness in a whole new level. [It] wasn’t the usual kind of protest, it was [a] non-violence march that united Filipinos [who] were already so tired of being robbed by the government,” said Fiona Lazaro, who participated in the march that attracted thousands of people.
“I [went] there because I’m a Filipino, this is my country, and pretty soon, I’m going to be a legal tax payer. The system needs to change. In short, I wanted to change the course of how things are done here, to be part of history,” Lazaro said.
However, there are some, including Salcedo, who believe that the fight against the pork barrel system is far from over.
“Although PDAF accounts for a significant chunk of the corruption that is happening in the legislature and the executive, totally eradicating corruption in our government remains to be a daunting challenge,” he said.
