Abolition of PDAF ‘will get Senate nod’
Guingona: So far, 16 of 24 senators support scrapping of P200-M ‘pork’
Tagle: Scrapping of ‘pork’ won’t complete the trick Palace aide says ‘zero remittance day’ no direct effect on gov’t, but to OFWs’ families
SEN. Teofisto Guingona III has expressed optimism that the Senate will approve the proposed measures calling for the abolition of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of the senators.
Guingona, in a radio interview yesterday, said at least 16 of the 24 senators have expressed support for the abolition of the P200 million PDAF or pork barrel allotted to each senator every year.
“I think in the Senate, it is clear that 16 of the 24 senators said they are for abolition of the pork,” Guingona said.
Aside from Guingona, Sens. Francis Escudero and Majority Leader Alan Cayetano have already filed separate Senate bills calling for the abolition of the pork barrel.
“The public funds should finance the needs of the people. Allocation and spending of the people’s money should not be in the discretion of the public officials alone,” Guingona said after filing Senate Bill No. 1524 known as the Bottom Up Budgeting Act of 2013.
Guingona is chairman of the Senate blue ribbon committee, which is investigating the P10 billion pork barrel scam.
He said his committee has no plan yet to summon his fellow senators linked in the controversy to attend the Senate inquiry.
However, Guingona said the senators and even the congressmen named in the scam will be given a chance to clear their names if they decide to speak before the blue ribbon committee.
“If they will attend, they are most welcome. We will listen to them in the spirit of fairness to everybody,” Guingona said.
Four senators
Some of the senators who allegedly released their PDAF to “bogus” non-government organizations (NGOs) formed by alleged scam’s mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles are Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, Ramon Revilla Jr. and Gregorio Honasan II.
Meanwhile, even as the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) joined calls for the abolition of the pork barrel, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle believes that more should be done to solve the problem already ingrained in Filipino culture.
According to Tagle, abolition of the PDAF will not mean that there shall be no more corrupt practices in the country.
“If corruption and theft can be found from a simple home to the highest etchelon of government, the problem must be cultural. You cannot solve a cultural problem simply by a political solution,” said Tagle aired over Church-run Radio Veritas.
The best way, he said, in solving a cultural problem is by going back to the basic unit of a society.
“How can we provide a cultural response? The parents must be example to their children how live simply,” said Tagle.
Earlier, Tagle had called on the faithful to see the pork barrel scam as a call to learn the wrongness of lavishness, especially at the expense of others, and the need to live simply and properly.
Malacañang urged the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) yesterday to think twice before joining on the call for “zero remittance day” on Sept. 19.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said that the campaign for no remittance would have no direct effect on the government, but on the families of the OFWs.