Party-list solons seek release of pork barrel to flood victims

MANILA, Philippines—Opposition party-list lawmakers are willing to donate millions of pesos in their pork barrel fund for the victims of Tropical Storm “Ondoy” (international codename: Ketsana) and Typhoon “Pepeng” (Parma), if they would be released at all by Malacañang.

The Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), or more popularly known as the pork barrel of known critics of the administration, has been “unreleased” since 2006, according to Gabriela Representative Liza Maza in a news conference Monday.

The progressive bloc of party-list groups in the House of Representative include Gabriela, which has two representatives, Bayan Muna, which has three, Anakpawis, which has two, Kabataan, which has one, and Akbayan, which has two representatives.

Each congressman was supposed to get P70 million per year in PDAF.

Pork barrel funds are not released in lump sum to congressmen, but are given through projects proposed by the lawmaker.

Maza lamented that since 2006, not one of the projects they have proposed, including road repairs and new classrooms, had been approved.

In the case of the two representatives of Gabriela, she said their pork barrel for a year would amount to P140 million.

The President should release the fund and give these to the (typhoon) vicims, she said.

Akbayan Representative Walden Bello also said that his group has not received pork barrel since 2005.

He said many typhoon victims would benefit from their “unreleased” pork barrel.

“We would like Malacañang to stop playing politics and release those funds,” Bello said.

Maza said that despite the absence of pork barrel, party-list groups were able to launch their own fund drive for the typhoon victims. She said she and her fellow party-list representatives also participated in the clean-up drive in Marikina, Bulacan, Pasig and Quezon City.