House scraps 151.79-B ‘pork’

Plan to ‘park’ largesse in favored congressional districts aborted

Asserting its independence, the House of Representatives last night scrapped the 151.792 billion so-called “parked pork barrel” and re-aligned the whole amount to fund underfinanced programs in health, education, and agriculture.

In an unprecedented move, the chamber constituted itself into a Committee of the Whole to override the report of the House Committee on Appropriations on the proposed 13.757-trillion national budget for 2019.

After a swift deliberation,

the Committee of the Whole presided over by Majority Leader and Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya re-aligned 151.792 billion to various programs, including typhoon “Ompong” rehabilitation work.

The voting, participated in by 198 congressmen, in effect, amended the Appropriations Committee report on House Bill 8169 or the 2019 General Appropriations Act (GAA) prepared by Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles.

It also paved the way for the start of the plenary debate on the budget measure that was twice called off following the discovery of the “parked pork barrel” issue.

Earlier, Nograles was asked to amend the committee report after House leaders found 151.792 billion (not 155 billion as earlier reported) allocations spread to favored congressional districts in 14 regions throughout the country.

Nograles did not amend the committee report, thus, triggering a shouting match between him and Andaya.

Several favored congressmen in whose districts the pork barrel was supposed to be “parked” claimed they were unaware of the lump sums.

Highly reliable sources revealed that the “brains behind the budgeting irregularity” is a Malacañang official planning to run in the 2019 mid-term elections.

But congressmen, whose districts were supposed to be used as parking for the pork, would have gotten “only an insignificant” portion of the lump sum had it pushed through.

“How to spend the money will depend on the call of the Palace official. The allocation was granted for parking purposes only,” a lawmaker, griping about the allegedly inequitable disposition of infrastructure funds, had earlier claimed.

Despite the re-alignment, Andaya gave assurances that the amount sought for the National Expenditure Program for 2019 will not be slashed.

“The rule, when it comes to appropriations, the division of labor is that the Executive proposes, and Congress disposes.

“But the Executive and Congress are not rivals for power,” stressed Andaya.

Approved by the Committee of the Whole was the re-alignment of the alleged “parked pork barrel” to the following programs: 1. Additional National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Fund, 15.5 billion; 2. Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP) of the Department of Health (DOH), 13 billion; 3. Health Human Resources Development of DOH, 13 billion; 4. Capital Outlay for State Universities and Colleges, 11.2 billion; 5. TechnicalVocational Laboratories of Department of Education (DepEd), 13.2 billion; 6. Roads to Decongest Traffic in Urban Areas, 111 billion; 7. Construction of Roads in identified tourism areas, 110 billion; 8. Construction of roads in Trade Areas, Economic Zones, and Livelihood Centers and markets, 110 billlion; and 9.Farm-to-Market Road program of the Department of Agriculture, 15 billion.

“So we help the executive when we spot errors, and discover oversight, when we notice inaccuracies, because these are not the tasks we do for ourselves but for our people” said Andaya in justifying the House move.

The additional NDRRMC fund will help finance rehabilitation projects for Ompong-stricken areas while the additional 13 billion will fund the HFEP which suffered one of the biggest budget slash imposed by the administration.

Andaya said the HHRD program will avert the mass layoff of 6,000 nurses, doctors, and dentists that the DOH hired to implement the program.