‘parked pork’ for ARMM found in neighboring regions

ust as the House of Representatives decided to put behind the controversy over “parked pork barrel,” a young Muslim lawmaker decried the alleged stashing billion meant for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in the budget proposals for Regions IX, X, and XII.

Lanao del Norte Rep. Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo, vice chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, questioned the

billion allocations which is apparently not part of the billion in alleged “parked pork barrel” that was discovered and later re-allocated by the House leadership to various departments.

Dimaporo exposed the irregular budgetary allocation when he interpellated Zamboanga City Rep. Celso Lobregat in connection with the proposed 2019 budget for the Department of Public Works and Highways last Tuesday.

Dimaporo called for an explanation as to the specifics of the ARMM infrastructure budget that was inserted in its three neighboring regions.

After a short floor deliberation, Lobregat, who sponsored the DPWH budget, admitted that the P4.556 billion in infrastructure budget “lodged” into the DPWH budget for Regions IX, X, and XII is a political accommodation for the ARMM legislators.

“I think we have to look at the realities on the ground. We have the congressmen and congresswomen in the ARMM here in Congress, and they, too, are proposing certain projects to be implemented in their own districts. If you look at the historical performance of the ARMM, unfortunately, the implementation by the ARMM was really found wanting, and it is because of this situation that the congressmen from the ARMM placed their different appropriations that they have identified in the three regions,” Lobregat said in his response to Dimaporo’s interpellation.

Lobregat added that “it is unfair for the congressmen not to have any allocation in their own districts since there are national roads also in the various districts in the ARMM.”

In rebuttal, Dimaporo said that there is no inventory of national roads in the ARMM, which means that the allocation of P4.556 billion for national roads in the ARMM is questionable.

Further, the former Lanao del Norte governor said that since the P4.556 billion is merely inserted into the budgets for DPWH Regions IX, X and XII, then the implementation of these projects will mean more work for the employees in Regions IX, X and XII, whereas the infrastructure projects are actually located in ARMM.

According to him, the amount is “in addition to the P10.1 billion in infrastructure budget passed by Congress for the ARMM.”

“Thus, there are actually two fund sources for infrastructure projects in the ARMM in the 2019 budget.” Dimaporo said.

It wasl recalled that the current House leadership under former President and now Speaker Gloria MacapagalArroyo discovered some P51.79 billion in alleged pork barrel funds hidden in the infrastructure budget of several congressional districts.

In an unprecedented move on a national budget issue, the chamber, apparently on orders of Arroyo, constituted itself into a Committee of the Whole to clearly override the committee report of the House Committee on Appropriations on the proposed P3.757 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 P51.792 billion to various programs, including typhoon “Ompong” rehabilitation work.