‘Executive offices’ had biggest pork increase

SEVERAL government agencies lumped under “Other Executive Offices” enjoyed the biggest increase in the allocation of Priority Development Assist- ance Fund (PDAF) from 2011 to 2012.

In its 2012 Annual Financial Report, the Commission on Audit (COA) said the “Other Executive Offices” received a record 113.25-percent rise in PDAF allocations.

COA did not name the “offices,” which received P756.39 million in 2012, substantially bigger than the P324.28 million allocated in 2011.

In comparison, other agencies posted two-digit increases, and the allocation of other agencies dropped.

Top five

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for two straight years had the biggest share of the pork barrel: P12.17 billion in 2012 compared to P11.35 billion in 2011.

In the recent audit of the commission on the pork barrel, COA Chairman Grace Pulido-Tan said the DPWH was one of the top three recipients of PDAF.

The Departments of Agriculture and Social Welfare and Development are the other two.

The Department of Budget and Management received the second biggest, P5.95 billion in 2012, a little over its P5.41 billion in 2011.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) was third with P907.28 million, up from the P681.45 million it received in 2011.

In fourth place is “Other Executive Offices” which had the biggest increase from 2011 to 2012.

Rounding the top five is “State Universities and Colleges” with P441.72 million in 2012. Interestingly, the pork barrel for state tertiary education dropped from P516.02 million in 2011.

The second biggest gainer is the Department of Education, whose allocation rose by 43.68 percent. From P63.14 million in 2011, it got P90.72 million in 2012.

Next is the DSWD, followed by the Department of Health with an 11.63percent increase from P390.37 million in 2011 to P435.77 million in 2012. The Department of Labor and Employment was at fifth spot with 10.92-percent rise from P243.36 million to P269.95 million.

The agency whose pork suffered the biggest reduction was the Department of Trade and Industry.

Trade had a 36.01- percent drop, from P21.75 million in 2011 to P13.92 million in 2012.

The allocation for the Department of Finance was also slashed by 40.03 percent, from P716.48 million in 2011 to P429.66 million in 2012.

Although it was one of the biggest recipients of pork barrel allocations from lawmakers, the Department of Agriculture’s pork shrank by 62.61 percent, to P232.03 million in 2012 from P620.59 million in 2011.

The share of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was slashed by 83.61 percent in 2012. It only had P5 million compared to the P30.5 million in 2011.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources got nothing. Its P13.73-million pork share in 2011 was slashed entirely in 2012.

The audit agency said the total allotments for PDAF increased and reached P21.77 billion in 2012.

“The amount is higher by P1.35 billion or 6.62 percent over last year’s comparable amount of P20.42 billion,” COA said in its report.