Gov’t starts probe on PDAF use by Noy allies

BACOLOD CITY – The government is expanding its probe into allegations of misuse of lawmakers’ Priority Development Assistance Fund ( PDAF) to include possible cases committed by allies of President Aquino during his administration.

The development is shown in letters sent by Department of Budget and Management ( DBM)- Western Visayas regional director Alfonso Bedonia Jr. to Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. and Bacolod Mayor Monico Puen- tevella dated Nov. 11.

In the letter, the DBM stated it was monitoring the status of various PDAF- funded

development pro ects implemented by local government units in the province from Jan. 1, 2010 to Oct. 1, 201 .

PDAF is the official name of the congressional pork barrel. President Aquino assumed office in June 2010.

enators Juan Ponce nrile, Jinggoy strada, amon evilla Jr. and others including alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet imNapoles were respondents in a plunder and malversation complaint filed by the National ureau of nvestigation before the Office of the Ombudsman.

edonia said more than P2 million worth of pro ects in Negros Occidental were PDAF funded.

Of the amount, P1 . 1 million went to towns and cities under the urisdiction of the Negros Occidental provincial government, and P 1. million to acolod City, which is outside the urisdiction of the provincial government.

edonia furnished Mara on and Puentevella tatements of Fund eleases for 2010 to 201 and asked the two officials to submit a report on the status of pro ects in their respective urisdictions not later than Nov. 0.

n response to the D M order, Mara on said in an interview Tuesday that every pro ect that had gone through the province is accounted for ... everything is accounted for up to the last cent.

Provincial administrator nrique Pinongan said they are preparing detailed reports on physical accomplishment, including amounts disbursed for each pro ect. e said the Office of the Provincial Accountant is preparing more documentation.

Provincial accountant Merly Fortu said they had to rush work since they only received the D M order last Nov. 2 .

Puentevella, for his part, said he had instructed City Accountant d avena to prepare a status report on the PDAF releases.

e said he had also created a task force to check on the implementation of PDAF-funded pro ects in the city.

avena said P million of the amount being examined represented special award for good housekeeping from the Department of the nterior and ocal overnment.

SC clarification

n Manila, D M Assistant ecretary Janet Abuel said they are seeking clarification from the upreme Court on what pork barrel funds are exactly covered by the C’s ruling declaring PDAF unconstitutional.

e would like to seek guidance and clarification from the upreme Court specifically on PDAF allocations that have already been released, Abuel told the ouse committee on appropriations yesterday.

nder the C ruling, Abuel said PDAF allocations covered by special allotment and release orders A O but not by notice of cash allocations NCA should be frozen and the corresponding funds returned to the national treasury.

he said the ruling presents some practical difficulties for D M and PDAF implementing agencies since A Os are offi government documents that authorize these agencies to obligate funds and conduct biddings for pro ects.

he said NCAs, which are advisories on the actual availability of cash for the payment of obligations, are usually released weeks or even months after the A Os, since bidding process takes time.

udget ecretary Florencio Abad earlier said the most affected by the C ruling on PDAF are more than 00,000 college scholars receiving financial aid from congressmen out of the latter’s pork barrel funds.

astern amar ep. en vardone said he and his colleagues welcome the D M’s initiative to seek guidance from the C on PDAF allocations released.

e said members of the ouse of epresentatives have millions in funds already deposited in hospitals but which cannot be used for their sick constituents because of the C ruling.

Status of medical aid

peaker Feliciano elmonte Jr. has promised to discuss with ealth ecretary nrique Ona the status of millions in medical aid released from the now unconstitutional PDAF to government hospitals.

e need to clarify this with ecretary Ona. t’s hard to do this with individual hospitals. t’s not ust P Philippine eneral ospital , he said.

ep. lpidio arzaga Jr. earlier complained that P had turned away two of his constituents with serious ailments, including one with breast cancer.

arzaga said he gave his cancer patient a guarantee letter for P20,000 to be drawn from his PDAF funds deposited with the hospital.

e said PDAF funds released to hospitals long before the upreme Court issued its anti-PDAF decision in eptember should not be covered by the court ruling.

They sent my cancer patient home. hat would happen to her he could not go to a private hospital because she has no money. e all know that a cancer patient, like a person with kidney failure needing dialysis, has to get immediate treatment, he said.

e said the P should be held liable for not honoring the contract they have with me.

arzaga, a lawyer, said the hospital, which is part of the niversity of the Philippines system, should treat his patients as long as there are sufficient funds for their treatment.

The lawmaker reported that as of last week, his PDAF balance with P stood at more than P1. million out of releases totaling P1 . million.

elp for sick people like this particular cancer patient-constituent of mine and for poor college students is the good side of PDAF that pork barrel critics and some sectors of the public do not see or refuse to see. They only see the abuses that some lawmakers have committed, he lamented.

e said he is sure that he is not the only lawmaker with PDAF balances with various government hospitals in Metro Manila and the provinces. hat would happen to all those funds The STAR learned that the National idney and Transplant nstitute, like the P , has stopped honoring guarantee letters from senators and congressmen.

ep. herwin Tugna of the party-list group Citizens attle Against Corruption said he suspects that hospital officers were being careful in handling PDAF funds in the wake of the C decision.

They might need guidance from ecretary Ona, the Department of udget and Management and the upreme Court, he said.

e agreed with arzaga that money released before the C order should be used for the purposes for which they were intended.