Opposition Senate bets slam lawmakers’ ‘pork’ insertions in national budget
Credit to Author: eestopace| Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2018 12:51:01 +0000
MANILA, Philippines — “Buti pa ang mga pulitiko may pork; ang mga mamamayan walang makain (The politicians have “pork,” but the people have nothing to eat),” former Deputy Speaker Lorenzo “Erin” Tañada III said on Wednesday.
Tañada summarized the sentiment of the opposition senatorial bets who slammed the practice of allocating “pork” for lawmakers in the national budget, which he said “has led to allegations of rampant corruption in government.”
“Ang trabaho ng mambabatas, gumawa ng batas at bantayan ang pera ng mamamayan, hindi ang lumuhod sa ehekutibo para sa proyektong idadaan sa mga kaibigan nilang contractor,” former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay said.
(The work of the legislature is to make laws and guard the people’s money, not beg for projects from the executive department to be handed out to their contractor friends.)
Earlier, House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr. said that a single contractor landed 30 government projects worth billions of pesos even before Congress could approve the 2019 national budget.
READ: Cabinet officials behind favored contractor, says Andaya
Meanwhile, human rights lawyer Chel Diokno criticized “horsetrading” in government.
He claimed that this results in lawmakers inserting their respective “pet projects” into the national budget in exchange for votes on key political issues like the recently approved draft federal charter and the third extension of martial law in Mindanao.
READ: Draft federal Charter gets House’s final nod
READ: Congress okays 3rd martial law extension in Mindanao
“No to pork; yes to accountability. Pang-trapo ang pork…Sa trapo ang sarap, sa atin ang pahirap (‘Pork’ is for traditional politicians. They enjoy it, we are left to suffer),” Diokno said.
He, likewise, called on Congress to address “the real concerns of the people” instead of spending time on issues such as charter change and martial law.
For her part, Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) member Samira Gutoc lamented the lack of transparency on the rehabilitation of war-torn Marawi.
“Nag-aaway-away sa milyones ang nasa taas, habang ang nasa baba walang pambili ng gatas,” she said, adding that the practice of “pork” among lawmakers is “insensitive.
(They are fighting over millions of pesos while the people don’t even have money to buy milk.)
“Sila-sila ang nag-uusap; tayo, naiiwang naghihirap. Ganyan din ang ginawa nila sa Marawi (They are the only ones who are talking; we are left to suffer. They did the same thing in Marawi),” she added.
Tañada also urged the government to focus on the interest of Filipinos and not of politicians.
“Sabi sa Saligang Batas, ‘we the people,’ ibig sabihin, interes ng taumbayan ang dapat ipinaglalaban ng gobyerno, at hindi interes ng iilang pulitiko (The Constitution mentions “we the people,” which means that the government should fight for the people, not the interest of politicians),” he said. /ee