By Mortz C. Ortigoza
I told
on my radio program that some members of the House of Representatives “bullied”
Department of Social Welfare & Development Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, a
member of the leftist organization.
Congressmen
like Rudy Farinas, Bicol Party-list Rep. Alfredo Garbin, and Negros Oriental
Congressman Arnie Teves lectured her that the solons have the power of the
purse to appropriate funds to government departments like DSWD.
That power,
according to them, allows them to identify their poor recipient-constituents.
| The proverbial hog cum pork barrel that still exist until now in the Philippines. Photo Credit:Spot.Ph |
Taguiwalo,
a straight shooter who despised how those solons want to have their way on public
funds, told them the DSWD Memorandum Circular 9 she signed does not intend to
bar congressmen from endorsing beneficiaries.
The
Secretary maintained, however, that the Circular seeks to stop the practice of
congressmen getting favored projects in the DSWD after she received information
that there was an allocation of projects for lawmakers even after the Supreme
Court scrapped the pork barrel.
“Ang
point lang namin, ang DSWD ay willing makipagtulungan sa mga representative.
Pero hindi po puwedeng parang may entitlement na may milyon kayo,” she told
them.
The
issue here, son of a gun, is simple:
Congressmen,
several of them graduated with Bachelors of Laws at Ateneo de Manila and the
University of the Philippines, had stooped too low by asserting themselves to identify
tens of millions of projects because they want to get the 20 percent S.O.P
(slang for cut) from their favorite private contractors.
This
malpractice has been there since time immemorial. This practice persisted
because of quid pro quo between
Malacanang and Congress where Senators and Congressmen expedite the passing of
the bill the President wants in exchange of the “pork barrel” where the solon
can get their cut.
EXAMPLE
of this malady:
