Poor pigs- their end product, the pork is eternally maligned. Not by me and most lechon lovers of our country, though. Ang katakam- takam nitong linamnam will be one of my most lasting and happy memories of life in this earth.
Lately, ayan na naman at minemenos- menos, inaapi- api ang pork when the controversy about misspent/ unspent pork barrel funds were bared by some whistleblowers (whose credibility by the way, is being eroded by the person this whistleblower accused). Lately, the country’s Commission on Audit issued statements saying that misused pork barrel funds reached not only millions but most possibly billions of pesos over the years.
Kawawang pork. Broadsheets and tabloid news alike blared out the involvement of five of this nation’s honourable senators in a scam that made use of these solons’ pork barrel allotments in ghost projects. Most of these ghosts activities were agriculture- related.
In unison these senators cried ’Excuse me, wala akong nalalaman tungkol dyan.’ I found out later that this was possible if the grantor did not check the institution or project he was putting his pork barrel funds into. Kadami palang kalokohang nangyayari under our very own noses. This also reinforces my belief in the the superiority and brilliance of the minds of our lahi which can think of believable ‘revenue- generating activities ‘ na hindi nabubuko agad- agad like these ones.
Mentioned by whistleblower Ben Hur Leuy in his revelations about the activities of one Janet Lim- Napoles were Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, Gregorio Honasan, Ramon Revilla, Jr. and Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and 23 members of the lower Chamber alleged to having contributed millions of pesos to fund ghost foundations and non government institutions which implemented non existent projects in agriculture, the environment and other areas. In the next days, a sixth senator would be added in the list of contributors to fake projects (but in a separate instance) – Sen. Lito Lapid who was said to have used his ‘pork’ amounting to Php20million for the purchase of anti- dengue tools and facilities and innoculants distributed in the provinces of Rizal and Quezon- where allegedly, there were no recorded cases of dengue mosquito infestation.
Hmmm and as usual, kutakut takut na imbestigasyon na naman ang ipipila to get to the bottom of it all- maski sino ang matumbok, that’s Malacanang by the Pasig orders. Ayaw naman daw ni newly- installed Senate President Frank Drilon for the Senate to make investigations- the senators might be accused of being prejudicial to members of their peer involve daw. The Commission on Audit is completing documents and files to determine ‘ano na nga ba ang nangyari at nagkaganito?’ The public outcry for investigations is defeaning. Authorities have to instigate investigations and ilahad ang tunay sa sambayanan. Civil society, church groups and nongovernment agencies declared ‘itigil ang pork barrel’! ‘Tigil!’ ‘Tigil!’ ‘Source of corruption iyan!’
Pork barrel is not endemic to the Philippines. Ang alam ko is this was one of the lasting pamanas we inherited from the good old USA. The phrase is said to have originated during the pre- civil war years when slaves were rewarded with a barrel of salted pork- a prize which they had to compete for in order that the winners can divide the contents of the barrel among themselves. In later years, pork barrel as a phrase was coined to denote spending money intended to benefit constituents of a politician in return for their political support. In other countries the term was synonymous with the word patronage and the word was not always associated with corruption or undesirability.
Scandinavian countries’ term for pork barrel is ‘election pork’(Denmark’s valgflaesk, Norway’s valgflesk and Sweden’s valflask, Finland gives a derogatory term ‘culvert politics’- siltarumpupolitikka to refer to local politicos concentrating on small matters such as the putting up of culverts in the politico’s home territory); our country calls it Priority Development Assistance Fund (hmmm, tunog may credibility naman talaga, ano po?); Romania calls it ‘pomeni electorale- electoral alms; Poland has ‘kielbasa wyborcza- election sausage; Switzerland calls it ‘ kantonligeist- canton’ic mind meaning projects of the fund is limited only to the locality (the canton) of the politician; Germany has ‘kirchturmpolitik’- church tower politics, again referring to the small area of concentration (as always, the politician’s bailiwick, where the fund could be spent for projects; the United Kingdom is said to use the term pork barrel rarely and its term for this are ‘election sweetener’ or’ tax sweetener’
But, but, but, ano ba yan??? Kasali pa rin sa 2014National Budget presented to Congress- yes, the proposed National Budget for next year was submitted to Congress- with the pork barrel system still proudly embedded in it. Budget Sec. Butch Abad says, pwede naman to implement measures to restrict the flow of funding so that financial mismanagement, corruption, and misspending is prevented. Ganyan din sabi ng Senate President who initially espoused the abolition of the system- but later on modified his statements to the effect that ‘ let’s just regulate kasi kawawa naman the true and deserving recipients of the funding if they are prevented from benefiting from this allocation.
That’s today’s pork barrel scenario in the country, ladies and gentlemen of Toronto. This growing bastion of ‘good governance’ in Asia has discovered big irregularities in the use of the pork barrel. Government leaders refuse to let go of the pork barrel though, as they see no wrong in what it can achieve if only there was no hanky- panky with its use.. Will they be able to find an acceptable solution to making the pork barrel system more acceptable, cleaner, and truly reach its intended beneficiaries- the poor and marginalized in various sectors in our midst?
THANK YOU TORONTO!
