House opposition threatens to boycott budget deliberations
By Kathrina Alvarez
Saturday, July 30, 2011
THE House minority bloc will boycott the budget briefings to be conducted starting August 1 if the full amount of the priority development assistance fund (PDAF), also known as pork barrel, is not released to its members.
Each House member is entitled to P70 million PDAF — P40 million for infrastructure and the remaining P30 million for health and education services under “soft” projects.
n a text message to Sun.Star, Davao del Sur Representative Marc Douglas Cagas IV said he has not received a single peso from his PDAF allocation.
“Sana maawa sila sa constituents ko,” he said.
Zambales Representative Mitos Magsaysay, a vocal critic of the administration, also told Sun.Star that she has not yet received any PDAF.
In a press statement released Saturday, Minority Leader Edcel Lagman said the “minority as a block demands the full release of the PDAF to all its members and supports the complaints of some marginalized members of the majority coalition who are similarly discriminated against.”
Navotas City Representative Tobias Tiangco, although a member of the majority, has also complained of zero PDAF allocation.
“If the releases are not made soonest, the minority shall consider boycotting the budget briefings to be conducted starting August 1 by the Committee on Appropriations or the committee hearings on the 2012 national budget after the general appropriations bill is filed,” Lagman said.
Lagman, for his part, already received the full amount of his congressional district’s half-year PDAF allocation.
“The first district of Albay rightfully deserves the releases in the same manner as all other districts nationwide are entitled to their own releases,” he said. “The uneven treatment of opposition legislators smacks of a ‘divide-and-rule’ strategy reminiscent of the colonial masters by driving a wedge within the ranks of the opposition.”
A text message threatening of “zero pork” circulated among House members days before the voting on the resolution impeaching then Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.
The text message, which allegedly came from House appropriations committee chair Joseph Emilio Abaya, said those who will vote against the impeachment will receive no PDAF. Abaya has denied such accusation.
Abaya earlier advised his colleagues to follow the “menu” set by the administration concerning projects where their PDAF may be allocated to allow faster processing of their PDAF requests.
Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad maintained that “no district will be deprived of its congressional allocation” as Aquino earlier vowed.
“He (Aquino) just wants to make sure that the projects are aligne
d with his priorities. I am sure the minority lawmakers are mature enough to put the higher interest of the country as reflected in the budget above their concern for their pork,” he said in a text message.
“That’s the position we adopted when we were in the opposition: despite getting zero in our districts, we went on to scrutinize the budget. Under the Aquino administration, their districts will not get zero,” Abad, former lone district representative of Batanes, said. (Sunnex)
Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2011/07/30/house-opposition-threatens-boycott-budget-deliberations-169925
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