The recently published report from the Commission on Audit (COA) has confirmed what some of us have suspected all along: the current Philippine government’s policy to uplift the status of the poor could be a scam for government officials to pocket public funds. The report is also a good case against the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law or the so-called “peace agreement” the Aquino government has entered into with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
In the COA report, “a total of P670 million in pork barrel funds meant to uplift Muslim Filipinos went to dubious nongovernment organizations (NGOs)”. From 2011 to 2013, two senators – Juan Ponce Enrile and Gregorio Honasan – and 47 other Aquino allies in Congress allegedly used non-existent NGOs. No wonder Muslim communities in Mindanao are still complaining about being “neglected” by the government.
So far, only Janet Lim-Napoles is being prosecuted for the Priority Development Assistance Fund scam or pork barrel scam when there could be hundreds of people like her who ran bogus NGOs and who were also in cahoots with some members of Congress. The problem is, since the audit was conducted a few years after the said program was implemented, some of the NGOs were nowhere to be found. The people running them are most likely in hiding now, disappeared without a trace. It’s not fair that Napoles is the only one bearing the brunt of the pork barrel scandal witch hunt. She needs some company.
The National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) seemed useless. It is supposed to be an agency formed under the Office of the President “to look after the well-being and culture preservation of Muslim Filipinos.” However, they allowed the lawmakers to select their own NGOs to implement their “pet projects” or what they claim as livelihood projects for indigent beneficiaries. This was what the report had to say:
That is simply unacceptable. So much public money is being siphoned by cunning individuals who have no qualms about robbing other people’s money. This is precisely the reason why Filipinos should reject the allocated budget for the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law. If the law is passed, the MILF will immediately receive P35 billion from the national government. The breakdown includes “a one-time-only fund of P1 billion for the proposed Bangsamoro Transition Authority, a P7-billion Special Development Fund aimed at rehabilitating the region, and P27-billion Annual Block Grant (ABG)”. This amount is said to be the equivalent of 4 percent of the net national internal revenue (NIR) collection of the Bureau of Internal Revenue.The NCMF failed to monitor and assess whether the NGOs were authentic and implemented their projects, such as soap making, fish processing, candle making, haircutting and cosmetology, despite charging a 3-percent retention fee for every PDAF or DAP fund it processed, it said.
The COA said that out of the 21 NGOs that were chosen by lawmakers, 15 were either unknown or could not be located at their given addresses during the inspection conducted in January 2014.
The office addresses of six other NGOs were found, but the COA observed no existing operations in the sites.
It cited one NGO, Sinag ng Kaunlaran at Pagasa Foundation, which was granted P3 million in the PDAF of Rep. Luigi Quisumbing even though it was “barely eight months in existence without any certified proof that it had implemented similar projects when it received the fund transfer.”
At least three of the NGOs—U.F. Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Commoners Foundation Inc. and Tausog Women Producer Cooperative whose business addresses were located at Samal Village, Maluso, Basilan province; Kajzzelle Bldg., Roxas Avenue, Extension, Kalibo, Aklan province; and North Laud, Siasi, Sulu province—were not visited by the audit team due to the distance and for the safety of the team.
We are talking about billions of pesos here. If the COA can’t even trace millions of pesos coursed through “registered” NGOs, how can they trace billions of pesos which will be given to members of a Muslim terrorist group whose identities are unknown? As of this writing, Moro Islamic Liberation Front spokesperson Mohagher Iqbal hasn’t divulged his real name yet. His identity is still a mystery. It’s actually quite mind-boggling how government officials can simply play down public outrage over the fact that they have entered into a billion-peso deal with someone who is using an alias even when that alone is against the law. There’s obviously so much money to be made in this “peace” deal for all the parties involved.
The proponents of the proposed law like Budget Secretary Butch Abad claim that the funds he allocated for the BBL will benefit the poorest provinces in the Mindanao region. Somehow we have heard that before. And somehow, Abad forgot to include the implementing guidelines on how the funds should be used. That’s probably because he wants the use of the funds to be at the sole discretion of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.In 2016, the current administration pushing for the BBL will not be in power anymore. The implementation of the BBL will not be their problem anymore. How can the next administration measure if the funds are actually being used to uplift the status of the region? Who will dare audit the members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front once they are in power in the region and once they have access to billions in public funds? The local authorities can’t even touch them now.
Another mystery is why the lawmakers are being pressured to pass the BBL as soon as possible. Why is there a deadline? Does President BS Aquino simply want to include it in his last State of the Nation Address in June? Now that’s just lame, indeed. It’s one thing for the BS Aquino to give them a deadline, but it’s quite another for the lawmakers to give in to his demands. Are the lawmakers getting something for passing the BBL?
In life, things are not always what they seem.
I wonder what the mood will be like at the State of the Nation Address? He can always pretend to cry again if he feels unfairly pressured.
/deport
Good-bye Mindanao. In about a few years, its going to be controlled by Isis and various other Muslim extremists thus causing the country to drop in value even further. This is after is secedes.
Its thanks to an Aquino that the Philippines has reached a new low.
Mindanao secede? Malabo yan Pre! Mahati lang sa tatlo pwede! BangsaMoro, BangsaTausug and Lumad/Bisaya Mindanao Pwede!
Secede? Malabo yan? Fracture into 3 possible! BangsaMoro, BangsaTausug and Lumad/Christian Mindanao pwede!
Aquino is the biggest thief in Philippine History. His family robbed the Philippine Treasury, during the Philippine Revolution. Now, he is robbing us blind, thru the BBL. You give money to people with no known identities? And, who are bent on terrorizing and killing us all?
This is Insanity. Aquino, Roxas, Abad and the rest of those politicians supporting the BBL, MUST BE STOPPED.
THIS IS PLAIN DAYLIGHT ROBBERY OF THE NATIONAL TREASURY. The perpetrators are Aquino and his cahoots.
@ o6 tor007HEYDAM, not quite BUT close, Ferdinand Marcos still holds that title.When adjusted for inflation? It is not even close.He even robbed the USA Corporations, G.E. especially ! and that may have played a part in his eventual downfall. IDK but that guy & his friends & family stole everything they possibly could steal !!! His money still runs PLDT and a lot of other business’s in the country.
@Bing Bong
Aquino holds the Tittle. Marcos is already dethroned, a long time ago.This Includes the thievery of the Cojuangco family. What they have stolen, is shown in their Hacienda Luisita, a tangible evidence…
Aquino’s DAP, PDAF, Pork Barrels, and now this BBL, are tremendous magnitude of thievery…
I am no fan of Marcos, or any politician. They are all thieves..
Aquino/Cojuangco’s thievery evidence is glaring. If they can steal then; much more they can steal now.
@Bing Bong
You have proofs of your allegations? Please share if you have! Let’s see how credible are they!
Bing Bong:
Hacienda Luisita, DAP, PDAF, the web article above…
We are not naive. We use our common senses….Aquino is the biggest thief…
@ B B & HT007, I posted a list and it was ‘moderated’. Marcos took $25,000,000,000.00 alone from GE/Westinghouse for a Nuclear plant that never opened.and that is a drop in the bucket.
@ Bing Bong
” Marcos took $25,000,000,000.00 alone from GE/Westinghouse for a Nuclear plant that never opened.and that is a drop in the bucket”
Again Mr. Bing Bong, can you back up your allegations with proofs/links/sources!
Interestingly, below is an excerpt from an article which appeared in the December 24, 2004 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.
“Another major step after the declaration of martial law was to contract with Westinghouse for the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant—which was to be the first (and would still be the only) commercial nuclear power plant in Southeast Asia. While nuclear power is clearly the only sane solution to the energy requirements across the region, the sad saga of the Bataan Nuclear Plant symbolizes the pure evil of the policies enforced by the “economic hit men.” As originally contracted, the plant should have cost about $1 billion, and produced 1,200 MW of electricity by 1984. However, after the hysteria generated by the anti-nuclear “Nuclear Club of Wall Street” (see EIR, Dec. 3, 2004) following the 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant in Pennsylvania, the Carter Admistration imposed retroactive safety regulations which contributed to more than doubling the cost of construction. Then, after the overthrow of Marcos in 1986, one of the first acts of the new Presidency of Corazon Aquino was to mothball the fully completed, but never used, Bataan Nuclear Plant. The Philippines has been forced to pay countless billions in debt service, and pays still today over $155,000 per day, for this nuclear facility, without having drawn one watt of electricity from the state-of-the-art facility. Two further nuclear power facilities which were planned to provide 1,880 MW of electricity by 1991, were also scrapped.”
http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2004/site_packages/econ_hitmen/3150philipp_coup.html
@ Big Bore, LOL @ YOU ! You cite an article from 2004 and allege to call it a fact? Some revisionist historical bull-shit you pull out of your ass as if it exonerates the biggest thief the Philippines was ever dumb enough to elect? LMAO @ YOU !!! The Westinghouse theft ocurred during the early 1980’s. and it was $25 BILLION, yes, $25 Billion ! and Marcos pissed plenty of people off with that one, it was one of the reasons the USA wanted Marcos removed from power ,he got greedy. Then the little runt started trying to up the rent on the Subic leases etc, etc,….there was really no end to the guys greediness. He actually thought he held some some sort of power over the situation and that the USA needed him, and the Philippines as some sort of anchor in S.E.Asia after the USA decided they had made enough money killing Vietnamese peasants,stealing the rubber trees Detroit needed for their automobiles tires and the heroin needed to flood the ghetto’s in the USA with.BUT, you see, he was wrong.
You know, I do not really give a shit if you believe it or not BUT That fuckin thief was damn lucky it wasn’t him that got dumped on that fuckin tarmac.The guy was a thief, him and his whole fuckin family were a bunch of POS thieves….and they still are.
@Bing Bong
“…I do not really give a shit if you believe it or not BUT…”
I would like to believe you BUT all you have is an EMO response and nothing more. You just can’t convince THINKING PEOPLE by your ONE-SIDED RANT!!!
Don’t fool yourself Mr. Bing Bong! You want to convince the GRP Community with an EVIDENCE, or with your URBAN LEGEND?!
Your choice, of course, would speak a lot whether you really know something or you’re just just another LOUD MOUTH!
Bing Bong, the PSEUDO-OMNISCIENT UGLY AMERICAN PIGLET thinks that he is infallible(?) and factual(?)!
Getting angry by merely asking if he can support his claims, he can’t TALK THE TALK! I wonder what he stands for or if he has any Ideology at all with his very opinionated views of things! Clearly he has none!
He’s just a HAPPY-BASHER! Definitely just another LOUD MOUTH!
they erased my comment, BUT BUT BUT……I got your ‘PIGLET’ right here buddy….and it s just goes to show what an idiot you are in thinking that I am an American. Dullards like you make it it a certainty that the Fail-ippines will remain a 3rd world shit-hole for decades to come.
BBL only allows for limited control of how government funds are used via COA, it also lacks a true development plan.
The danger of it becoming a beef barrel (BBL) – pork barrels being inappropriate for Muslims after all – is very real.
The BBL area is a ‘training ground’ for what is happening elsewhere, half a world away. Get it now? He is being told what to do.
@Bing Bong:
Marcos is History. He is Dead for more than 30 years…even if, he stole the whole country; it does not matter anymore.
What matters are the Thieves of TODAY, who are stealing the National Treasury, in every means like: DAP, PDAF, PORK BARREL Bribery, BBL, etc…
Let us all move on from Marcos. He is not relevant anymore…
@Bing Bong:
The Thieves of our present times are what we must focus. The Thieves who are already dead, cannot steal anymore. The Thieves who are LIVING can still Rob Us. “May kamandag pa rin sila…Kaya, KAGAT ng KAGAT, habang may Kamandag…”
OK, SO “OFF WITH THEIR HEADS ALREADY !!!” . I mean, what the fuck are you all waiting for?
The government of the Republic of the Philippines could be toppled in less than 24 hours. They have no standing army of any real consequences, no real Air Force. A Navy that is close to being tied with Zimbabwe in terms of effectiveness.Am I leaving something out? Oh yeah, NCR Cops that had their appropriations for bullets stolen, so the police force guarding the capital cant even reload their 9mm. pistols.
Madagascar could kick the shit out of the Philippines, and they dont have an army.
Bogus NGO’s given block grants and no one even works for the NGO’, LOL!!!! Why not just mail a check to the Senators and Reps. home address’s ? The Filipino scam artists are so belligerent now as they see the population will put up with just about anything in exchange for a sack of rice every few years.
The country has been doomed for a long time and will continue to slither its way down the toilet…..SSSSSSLOWLY B-B-B-BUT SURELY !!!! WEEEE!!!!!!!!
“Hey, whats that sound?”……(Toilet Flushing) “OH that is just the Philippines going to the sewer”. “Oh yeah, right.That is what I thought it was.”.
You have proofs of your allegations? Please share if you have! Let’s see how credible are they!
the contrast between Singapore and Philippines can be put down to the character of 2 people who made all the difference, but whereas in Singapore they were blessed with a founding father who had integrity and humility (albeit a bit authoritarian), this land was cursed with a dishonest autocrat who turned into a despicable despot.
As Guiseppe di Lampedusa put it in The Leopard:
“For things to stay the same, things have got to change.”
“The more things change…the more they stay the same”…they always say.
I got the impression they always love risking billions of pesos and millions of lives on a “game of luck”. What else is new to BS Aquino anyway?
if you are referring to the Ferdinand Marcos who was forced in 1969 by the usa, enrile and the opposition to him to leave the palace, then it’s too bad because that real Ferdinand Marcos can prove to you that he didn’t steal a single penny from you. i will not accuse him again with fabricated allegations if i were you.
Malapit na…OH YES