The number of Filipinos who are getting fed up with Philippine President Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino III is definitely growing. As Churchill would say, he has all the virtues they dislike and none of the vices they admire. Granted, there are still those who are in denial of the likelihood that BS Aquino personally benefits from the existence of the Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF) or the pork barrel funds. Nevertheless, it won’t be long now before the truth behind his leadership skills comes out – that he is powerless without it.
HIs reasons for keeping the PDAF are lame.
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The injustice committed against Corona was so obvious to some particularly when they compared the crimes some of the senator-judges have committed in the past that dwarf Corona’s perceived violation. A lot of people say that Corona’s non-disclosure of his dollar account wasn’t even an impeachable offense for two reasons: it was protected by the foreign currency account secrecy law and more importantly, during the trial, it was explained that some of the funds from his dollar account came from the proceeds of the sale of his wife’s property. In short, it wasn’t all his to declare.
Now that media has revealed that some of the members of congress who played a key role in convicting Corona has been diverting funds into bogus NGOs, perhaps Corona can file a lawsuit against them for wrongful conviction. If the allegations that these senators and congressmen have been pocketing millions from their pork barrel funds are true, they have to be removed from office as soon as possible even before a criminal case is filed. It’s only fair since Corona was removed using a trial-by-media, even when his “violations” weren’t criminal.
Some senators who found Corona guilty committed worse crimes.
There is no real justification for providing “development” funds to lawmakers. Congress shouldn’t even have funds for projects. Their role is different. They should be busy crafting laws and deliberating them. They shouldn’t be wasting time dealing with contractors who build basketball courts, waiting sheds or any other small projects that won’t even translate substantially to the overall development of the country. It’s not as if the funds have resulted in the upgrade of the country’s railway system, schools or hospitals.
Our congressmen didn’t even think about using the funds to find alternative sources of energy. To this day, some people in some parts of the Philippines are still literally living in the dark ages, trying to make do with a few hours of electricity each day. Instead, it seems like the bulk of the pork barrel funds have been used to fund the extravagant lifestyle of “esteemed” congressmen and those who run bogus NGOs. Columnist Neal Cruz made a good point when he stressed that members of congress need to focus on their real jobs:
Constructing government projects is the job of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), not of members of Congress. The job of the latter is to enact laws, not to be a duplicate DPWH. Search the Constitution with a fine-toothed comb and you will not find any provision that authorizes Congress to be a de facto DPWH. But year in and year out, legislators act as miniature DPWHs. That is usurpation of public authority. And because they shamelessly pocket some of the money, that is corruption which P-Noy promised to fight.
Apparently, it was BS Aquino’s mother, former President Cory Aquino who instituted the practice of using the pork in the Countryside Development Fund. Prior to this, the allocation of any project from the pork barrel funds has to be approved by the House of Representatives and the Senate. BS Aquino further institutionalized the amount of pork each congressman got when everybody got the same amount every year, which translated to between Php70 to 200 million. Budget Secretary Florencio Abad tried to justify it:
Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said the P70 million in PDAF for a member of the House of Representatives and P200 million for a senator was adopted as the norm beginning in the 15th Congress.
“We just wanted to put an end to the inggitan (envy) among lawmakers. At least everyone gets their share no more, no less. Dati may tampuhan pa kasi ’yung mas malakas, mas malaki (Before there was displeasure because those who were close [to Malacañang] got bigger amounts.)
Secretary Abad’s statement is proof enough that the Executive branch of government is paying Congress to grant them favors.
Failed at preventing the pork barrel scam.
The only solution to preventing members of congress from pocketing or mismanaging the pork barrel funds is to not give them any at all. BS Aquino just has to find a better way to bring the concerns of local constituents to the national government’s attention without using the legislators. Once the legislators don’t have pork barrel funds anymore, maybe there will be less celebrities who will seek a position in Congress and more qualified people who answer the call of duty will instead fill the legislative posts.
[Image collage of senator-judges courtesy Balita.ph.]
In life, things are not always what they seem.
He is clearly taking his chances here. Hopefully on that day, for their sake, these public officials will change their minds and abolish it with no strings attached. Considering the damage the recent calamities caused and the hell people have been through, specifically flood victims, people will really be hot tempered on Aug. 26. I don’t think holding a concert nor holding holding anything close to an event rife with jubilation will do the victims justice. Remember people, 17 people died this time and hopefully no more. But think of the hundreds that died last time because this administration decided to cancel the flood control projects of the previous Administration all for the reason that it was tainted with corruption. This kind of reasoning can not be tolerated. He should have supported those projects instead of canceling them or at least provided another alternative. So on that day think of the thousands who died in the previous years, even surpassing this administration. Those were needless deaths had the government done its duty properly. They have no excuse, people. They are not stupid and stole our money. They know what they are doing and they willfully took their chances along with the consequences.
News just in says “PNoy orders abolition of pork barrel funds”. If you listen to the speech though, the lawmakers will still get funds. So it seems he is misleading the public into thinking that they will not be getting funds anymore. This is just a way to stop the rally on Monday.
Now you’ve said it:
NOYNOY IS NOT A PRESIDENT. HE’S A TROLL!!! XD XD XD
WHAT IS THE ACTION PLAN FILIPINOS?
It will take more than one day rally to change the habit of the thieving public servants. PNoy just announced that he will abolish the pork barrel funds 3 days before the scheduled rally. Obviously, he is trying to appease the public. The public needs to continue being vigilant because the timing of his announcement is quite suspect. After weeks of saying he will not abolish it, all of a sudden he comes out with a misleading speech, which basically means he is just repackaging it.
Yes only a BS Aquino groupie would be too blind to see that focusing the investigation only on GMAs last three years is a futile effort at damage control. The fund anomaly is already undeniable so the course of action is to establish that IT DID happen but not on BS Aquino’s watch..
Is there any way the people can petition for a similar investigation against the current administration? It would be really nice to establish that nothing has really changed even during BS’ term. I would like to hear what lame excuse they have next.
e.g. “The corruption was so deep during GMA’s term that it’s still very hard to subdue everyone involved but we’re doing our best”
-or-
“The president is still halfway through his term. We need more time, let’s give him a chance”
..or something in a similar sense.. Also, appropriating funds just to prevent “inggitan”? It’s so childish I don’t think it was meant for the educated class’ consumption. Otherwise, to talk about it casually is evidence that buying loyalty is truly the norm in Philippine politics..
Some of his rabid supporters are singing praises that he has decided to abolish it. It’s far from being abolished. The lawmakers will still get funds. The aim should be for the removal of any funds going to the lawmakers because they should be crafting laws and deliberating them. They shouldn’t be wasting time talking to contractors at all.
Many of the laws are self serving and protect legislators from crimes, also the hidden dollar accounts, Tupas got angry after Corona signed away his privacy rights to his dollar accounts and then he urged those in government and in the room to do the same thing. Well looks like Manila and this entire Laguna de Bay will be stuck with yearly flooding issues, this lake could be a real money-maker if it was dredged out and made much deeper, it would also free up some land possibly build a rail way around the lake the land is not occupied like other area’s, aaaah that makes way too much sense.
@Mcalleyboy
Yes, you are right about that. I think some laws were written with the writer’s best interest in mind.
I wish Corona wasn’t too emotional during his testimony. He was in control just before he walked out. I think that kinda p*ssed some senators. But anyway, the outcome had been decided even before the trial began regardless.
@Mc alley, correct me if I am wrong BUT CJ would only allow his $$$ accounts to be investigated if all the other members of congress allowed there accounts to be scrutinized as well. CJ NEVER opened his accounts to the scrutiny he appeared to invite, because the others who are in on the whole ‘steal-all-you-can-get-your-hands-on’ buffet declined to sign their right to privacy away.
The FREE buffet would have ended right then and there.
@Gerry
Corona wasn’t on trial for ill-gotten wealth. And by the way, the amount in his bank accounts were eventually divulged in the end and explained. I don’t know any cases being filed against him after that, do you?
You definitely missed the point of the article if you still think that Corona’s “violations” were enough to remove him from office considering the offence committed by the members of congress.
Corona, I think signed away his right to dollar account privacy under pressure and to just get things over with, in my opinion but he only encourage other members of Government to do this, they thumbed their noses at him instantly, never forget watching that, Tupas was number one and apparently he is messed in this Pork Barrel scam.
@mcalleyboy
Maybe Gerry was watching a different trial. 😉
@Ilda, the CJ ‘testified’ about nothing. He made a speech. He answered not a single question he swore to address. Unless ‘testimony’ has a different meaning in the Philippine justice system, and it very well might, the CJ did no such thing.
The real victims in that whole trial were the PAL employees who lost their jobs because the SC took a kick-back. The lady who actually ‘testified’ about a certain $100,000.00 deposit into CJ’s account between the time the first SC decision came down in favor of the PAL employees and the second flip-flop of the decision that went against the PAL employees was never addressed/completely ignored.
and that was/is the definition of CRIMANLITY, TYRANNY, and SLEAZINESS all rolled into one.
Virtually everyone forgot about the PAL employees. BUT NOT ME, but hey, I am a no one, but at least I know it.
@Gerry
How many Supreme Court judges are there? Are you saying that a Chief Justice can overturn decisions on his own?!?
I don’t recall Corona being convicted for getting a kick-back from PAL. If you knew the truth, how come you didn’t volunteer as a witness during the trial?
@Ilda , That is cute, really it is. Corona took a kickback to flip-fop and screw the PAL employee’s out of their jobs( do you really have to be told who paid him? OH, wait…there is ‘no proof’, huh?). The fact that any politician gets ‘convicted’/’jailed’ or ‘fined’ for anything in the country is soley dependent on if he can pay his way out of it, Who his friends are too. Hide behind the ‘no conviction’ veil all you want, the guy is a POS thief. In my book and all lot of other people’s book, the guy is a lying, thieving corrupt-as-they-come ‘my court is for sale’ SCUMBAG. I believed the lady who proved he had $4million in his bank accounts(on an average yearly salary of less than $30,000.00!, LMAO!) and I did not believe a single syllable that came out of his mouth concerning the CA$H.
I watched the same masquerade/scam ‘trial’ as you did. The two difference’s between me and you Ilda is I know a thief when I see one, no matter what color shirt he/she is wearing, coz to me every single one of them is a thief, a lying thieving SCUMBAG. AND I am not as cute as you are.
The whole political division/party line nonsense is a charade. They are all in on it together(protectors of their own little share) and when one thief gets cut out of his ‘fair share’ he whines and complains to the media, like what is happening now. if Filipino’s fail to wake the fuck up NOW and realize this, I GUARANTEE nothing will change in the country and you all will be doing this blogging about ‘he did this’,’he did that’, ‘no conviction’ BS for the next 30 years. THEY ALL HAVE TO GO!(Strike whilst the iron is hot sound familiar?)
Your buddy the ‘saint’ takes many things the wrong way and see’s what he wants to see, and makes in-correct assessments based on his in-correct assumptions, like the stereo-typical self-righteous flip she is. BUT YOU?MAYBE NOT.
Look at ICELAND in 2009 if you want a better idea of how to change the country, I prefer the French Revolution myself but even the American Revolution can serve as a format/guide of what really needs to be done.
If not? The country is doomed to more of the same.
The Filipino is good at seeing an injustice and rallying against it, better than most countries even, but you all just drop the ball when it comes to PERMANENTLY getting rid of the garbage. Literally and figuratively.
MY PREDICTION? More of the same thieving n scamming for generations to come. I’m beginning to think its in-grained in the whole country.
@Gerry
You’re just writing the same unfounded allegations you have been writing here for months. You have no proof and you are not being sworn in to testify. Therefore, you have zero credibility. Unless you can show us proof, then your are just wasting your time.
@ILda
BS Aquino is very like a lazy chameleon. He tries to change his “colors” in order to fool the Sovereign Filipino People. He continues to pretend the great lie about his matuwid na daan which is actually Ang Baliw na Daan! Baliw sa kapangyarihan at baliw sa kayamanan ng kaban ng bayan! BS Aquino you cannot fool all of the people all of the time. Down with the yellow dictatorship! Down with the yellow kleptocracy!
Hi Thomas
He is now trying to spin the situation his way. He’s now saying he fully supports the rally as if he is not aware that the people will be rallying against him.
PDAF is a waste of money. mga ibang noytards, they keep on saying na wag i- abolish kasi nakakatulong daw. if they want to help, then the congress and the senate must do their job: make laws that would benefit the people. dyan plng makikita mo na kung gaano inoverrrate at i- praise ang mga aquino, as if gift from the gods.
“mga ibang noytards, they keep on saying na wag i- abolish kasi nakakatulong daw”
Nakakatulong nga…..para patuloy pa rin silang mga palamunin.
Even the bank secrecy law that they said they will review during the Corona trial hasn’t been reviewed. I’m sure there are a lot more archaic laws that they should abolish but they seem to have no time to look into those even if that is their duty.
They should all just work for the DPWH if they care more about the construction of small projects.
Talagang inestress ang “BS” as in bullshit…
Anyone can have their own interpretation of “BS” but it’s not mentioned anywhere in the article that BS means that word. “BS” is Benigno Simeon clearly, right? (unless you interpret it that way, lols). 😀
I meant unless you interpret it otherwise (instead of Benigno Simeon, hehe. 😉
Pnoy aquino summary of pdaf speech.
I have been pissing in my pants at the thought of giving up pork barrel. Senators and congressmen only pretend to like me or vote for me because i pay them well. The turncoat and political mercenary frank drilon wouldnt wait until the ides of march to stab me in the back if i did not fund his forbes park lifestyle and protect him from investigation.
Even the strategy of planting a story of being ‘inspired’ by a non existent girlfriend didn’t work. Used it too many times. Must sack ricky ‘no idea’ calamitydang.
And 1 million people are going to march on monday. Help!!
Plan – lie to them. Tell them i will abolish pork barrel. They believed my lies on Freedom of Information.
I will talk about a review, new rules and with a change of name – hey presto pork barrel under a new name.
Dont worry congressmen you can fool the filipino voters all the time.
Now tell your mistresses that their credit cards have not been cancelled.
i got the idea whilst playing hide the pork sausage with sharpshooter ‘always places it in the right hole’ puno. Come here porky. now you see it, now you don’t. today pork barrel, tomorrow local development fund.
pork money by any name smells sweet to a politiciand.
Funny, but judging from the comments of the masa, they are practically praising PNoy for this. Such gullible masa. Kawawang Pilipinas.
I trust Noynoy ‘s word as far as I can throw Drilon.
The rabid supporters are already singing hallelujah despite PNoy’s track record of not keeping his promise. They are so beholden to the Aquino name.
I don’t question PNOYs aim to develop the nation, but I question his competence as well as his personal attachments. Many of the attacks against him are motivated by Marcos’ interests, and the Marcos camp is virtually the worst camp and I have evidence.
We have to go back to the constitution. PNOY has to undo some of what his mother has done. He also has to initiate constitutional reforms.
Huh?!? You should be more specific.
an organized crook always has a get-away plan. Kiss the peso’s goodbye for they are gone. BUT That doesn’t mean the thieves should get any more. It can be stopped, right now in fact. a li’l action is required, NOT TALK!
I don’t wish to be a defender of Pres. Noynoy but the article presumes a lot of things that are either untrue or twisted.
I understand that the writer is a staunch critic of Pres. Noynoy but I also understand that even a staunches critic would find time to be objective when it comes to national interest.
Everybody knows that all presidents wield power through pork barrel funds over Congress. Why single out Nonoy?
Because of the conviction of Corona? I don’t think so. Corona was guilty as charged. For a chief justice to put up a lame defense just like that is unacceptable. He was a complete damaged good after the impeachment trial.
No point in using him again to attack the president.
What the writer should do next time is to come up with credible, substantive and believable facts showing and proving Noynoy’s mistakes and faults.
And she can start by disproving the satisfaction ratings given by the public to the president.
You’ll have to go back and read the rest of the articles in this blog, dude. We’ve been watching Noynoy since 2009 and even earlier. We have detailed accounts of how he trumped up charged versus Corona, rigged the entire Lower House to file a half-assed impeachment complaint against him, and bulldoze the senate to convict him using illegally collected dubious evidence while marshalling all his friends in the media to wage an all out bad public vilification campaign against him.
True, all presidents do all that and then some one way or another over their terms. But why single out Noynoy? Well, for one thing, he is the CURRENT president. Tough luck for him then. Second, he and his minions put him up as some paragon of goodness that all his predecessors weren’t in the worst way possible – by using the names of his dead parents to prop up that illusion. And third, he symbolises everything that is wrong with the way Pinoys participate in democratic exercises – unintelligent and misguided.
Noynoy is one well-packaged piece of work of a president. A nice topic for articles, indeed.
@Leb
Yes, Corona was damaged goods to the people who believed the propaganda against him. Like the allegations he owned 45 properties, which was published on the front page of the Inquirer. This allegation was proven to be false but unfortunately, the damage to his reputation was already done. You can also thank Noynoy for Corona’s tattered reputation. Noynoy did not stop badmouthing Corona in front of the media before and during the trial. He still considers his removal a “success” in fighting corruption when in fact, most of the corruption that is happening involves members of Congress – those who convicted Corona. Only a starstruck ignoramus will fail to see that.
Corona was guilty of what exactly?
Noynoy is the current President and it is obvious to a lot of people that he is still using the pork barrel to reign over congress.
Satisfaction ratings can be manipulated and it doesn’t change the fact that after 3 years in office, he hasn’t made a difference to the progress of the country.
I understand your sympathy with Corona but the guy was a Supreme Court justice. Like the other silent observers before the impeachment trial, I, too, expect that he will put up a good fight by unveiling a defense worthy of his stature. But it didn’t happen. He allowed those who are after him to bamboozled, harass and show how weak a leader he was.
The property issue, I agree, but those are not defense meant to show his innocence. The media, as always invent, twist and manufacture facts that suits their whims and Corona knew this. But what did Corona do as an accused Chief Justice to prove that there was conspiracy against him?
All along he gave an impression, at least to me, that he was relying on the exclusive people power demos by employees in the Justice department to drum up sympathy and gather support on his side. But it’s too little, too late.
I commiserate with Corona but it was all his undoing. A chief justice, an innocent one, will never allow himself to be cornered just like that without putting up a fight. To be honest with you, I was very disappointed with his reaction/defense/performance during the impeachment trial.
And to use and drag him now in mounting an offense against Pres. Noynoy would only be adding insult to injury to the man who I think has already opted to move away from politics and hold his silence forever, at least.
@leb
You seem to realise how media manipulated the situation against Corona but you don’t even want to acknowledge that the relentless persecution Corona had to endure for months took a toll on his mental and physical health. Worse, you don’t want to acknowledge that the darling of the media, Noynoy played a big role in how the media were happy to exaggerate the allegations against Corona. One man is no match against the machinery employed by Noynoy in his mission to get rid of his political enemy. He probably used his presidential funds in hiring his little ladies.
I will continue to discuss the human rights violations against Corona every chance I get because what happened to him can happen to anyone. You are trying to act ignorant to understand the consequences of violating the rule of law. Corona’s impeachment trial showed how even our lawmakers cannot follow the rule of law and not following the rule of law or ignoring the country’s institutions is one of the reasons the Philippines will remain a basketcase.
If that’s the case, then he is not worthy of the position of chief justice.
I don’t buy the idea that an innocent chief justice will have mental and physical problem because of offensive moves against him by media.
I don’t buy the idea that a chief justice will allow the corrupt media to manhandle him without putting up a fight.
A chief justice has for his disposal means to mount counter attack against offensive propaganda. An innocent chief justice like Corona, a view I held before the impeachment trial, has more to offer than that by means of moral and professional uprightness.
Corona is not an ordinary person for you to use him every time you get the chance to talk about human rights violation. A chief justice convicted on an impeachment trial would not be a desirable model as a poster boy for human rights. He’s a damaged good.
We have lots and lots of people, small ones, poor ones, indigent and helpless ones whom you can avail of to pursue your fight for human rights. Not Corona, please.
I think what you should do instead is to respect his human rights by not dragging him and using him as a foil for your political game. The man deserved the peace and privacy he’s enjoying right now.
@Leb
Your statements do not make any sense at all. Are you saying that Corona should have played dirty the way PNoy and his minions did? Please enlighten me. Or Not. Obviously, Corona made a mistake in believing that the lawmakers would conduct the proceedings according to the law.
It seems that you have accepted that our dysfunctional culture is part of who we are and that those of us who try to respect institutions by following the law are fools. Apparently, what the media did during the trial is ok with you. Well, good luck with that. For your info, Philippine media plays a big role in the dumbing down of Filipinos.
Corona’s trial was a public spectacle. Discussing how the lawmakers and the rest of PNoy’s minions made a mockery out of our insitutions is good for our society. At least the new generation will understand why the country remains a basketcase.
One word ABOLISH THE PORK…
Mistulang ang pag alis nito ay malaking hamon sa mga dawit at gusto pang magnakaw o sa mga bagong hirang na mga magnanakaw.
Napakarami ang dapat tulongan naandiyan ang ating mga kawal na binubuwis ang buhay upang ipagtangol ang inang bayan,mga guro na sila ang humuhubog ng ating kabataan,mga kalsada sa probinsiya na hinde madaanan kapag umulan particular in Aurora,Quezon, ang mga tunay na magsasaka nadapat silang maging tunay na benificiary,mga kapuspalad na OFW na inabuso ng employer at stranded, mga matalinong kabataan na hinde makapagaral dahil sa kahirapan.Mga Filipino innovators na may kakayanan at kaalaman na lumikha pero kapus sa pananalapi.
Napaka lalim ang ugat ng sakit na ito ng ating pamahalaan na patuloy na sinisira ang ating inang bansa dapat palitan na lahat ang mga involve sa senate and congress kompiskahin ang kanilang illgoten wealth.
I remenber in South korea & japan kapag ang official nila ay na involve sa ganitong kaso ay kusang umaalis at ang iba ay nag papakamatay dahil sa kahihiyan dito sa pinas ay ibang iba ang style nakakaharap pa sa media akala siguro nasa shooting pa.
@OFW… how can just abolishing the pork barrel fix things? Government is protected by self-serving laws, they have many laws that protect them from prosecution the general public can’t even check on their wealth, properties they own hidden dollars accounts, it’s almost impossible to kick somebody out of office and they end up working in another branch or? look at the customs branch, you have to pay a certain fee or your container is held up or delayed and then looked at real close, lol.. how does that spur business in country.
Well impeach him! kaya lang pag dating ng election wala naman kayong nagagawa… the best solution, BOYCOTT!!, elections in the Phils., DON’T participate in any electoral process..to show to the world the distrust..
walang mangyayari!!!
i just recommended that pork barrel should be abolished its because of a lot of corruption in our own country.
It doesn’t matter who the next president of the Philippines will be, the way of life in the country will still be like a circus. Might as well vote for Bozo The Clown if he runs for office, to replace the previous clowns who held that office.
To avoid corruption is auditing every two years, by independent body. Where its members changes every auditing year. So there is no familiarity between politicians and the auditing personnel. People like respectable citizens from public. They have to be registered, police records, community status, integrity, and trained qualified, etc. The fund released only once the project is done. It is given to the service provider and must not go to the mayor, senate, any political body or anyone’s office account. They must only know the budget figures but not be able to hold the actual fund. No politicians would be able to have access to any funds which is due for the public developments. Politicians are for politics and should not be able to hold on any monetary funds except their income or salary that is solely due to them.