House: PDAF abolished by 2013

eaders of the ouse of epresen tatives have assured the public that the abolition of the Priority Develop ment Assistance Fund PDAF will be reflected in next year’s proposed P . trillion eneral Appropriations Act.

A senior pro administration law ma er, who as ed not to be identi fied, said among the difficulties in complying with President A uino’s directive was how to list the pro ects funded by congressional allocations without ma ing it too long yet at the same time transparent.

“There are some challenges, par ticularly on fleshing out the details of the President’s re uest to abol ish the PDAF, and how to ensure accountability,” the lawma er said.

“We won’t be able to finish the budget if the pro ects of all lawma ers would be detailed line by line,” the lawma er said.

y , the budget approval process would be easier, the law ma er added.

The PDAF’s abolition would ma e all congressional allocated pro ects undergo budget delibera tions.

Another complication is how to apply the order in the case of party list lawma ers, numbering in the th ongress, with a combined congressional allocation of over P billion, the lawma er said.

Party list lawma ers do not have legislative districts as their constituents come from the sectors they claim to represent.

pea ing to reporters, ama rines ur ep. olando Andaya r., ouse committee on appropriations vice chairman, said the difficulties mentioned are not insurmountable.

“We are supposed to do away with PDAF, so that’s the first order,” he said. “Passing the budget on time is also a constraint, so expect in the coming days there will be consulta tions not only with party leaders but also with the individual congress men.”

ouse leaders and party repre sentatives have held at least two meetings to draft guidelines on the congressional allocations. Another meeting was set for next wee .

Davao ity ep. sidro ngab, ouse committee on appropriations chairman, said the Department of udget and anagement is helping draft the guidelines.

pea er Feliciano elmonte r. is bent on complying with the order and passing the budget by ctober, Andaya said.