We beg to differ.
Former Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno today confirmed policy surrounding the way Malacanang can allocate discretionary “development” funds reportedly saying that; […] Malacañang cannot augment funding for new projects but can only add funds to existing programs. “The constitution is very clear that no law shall be passed authorizing any transfer of appropriation. They allow augmentation…
The acronyms may change, but the principles remain the same: Executives execute, and legislators legislate. Senators who were allegedly “rewarded” by President Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino III were supposedly given additional “appropriations” on top of their pork barrel allocations through a Malacañang appropriations mechanism called the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP). Why did legislators need to…
Read More “Thievery in Philippine government: The many creative ways of naming pork” »
Bribe or incentive? Why does this question even matter? For many weeks now, Filipinos have been left to sift through mounds of information pouring out of traditional media and the Net to make sense of what’s going on as more “revelations”, “confessions”, and “testimonials” emerge about who got how much. Indeed, whether it is a…
Read More “Whether called a bribe or an incentive pork barrel funds MOTIVATE Filipino politicians” »
Further proof that Filipinos have a very flat learning curve. Congressional pork barrel thievery is nothing new. It’s been going on since its re-introduction into Philippine governance back in the late 1980s by former President Corazon Aquino, mother of current President Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino III. Even back in 1996, the Inquirer had already published…
My first two posts on government funded rice importation caused a bit of a stir, but not enough to change the mind of Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala to stop the government to government importation of rice. It isn’t enough that after the Arroyo Administration’s P732 Million Fertilizer Fund Scam, the DA insists on continuing a…
Read More “Top Ten Reasons Why Proceso Alcala Should Quit As Agriculture Secretary” »
The way Philippine society is responding to the political crisis unfolding today is not too different from the campaign months leading to the 2010 presidential elections. Despite mounting evidence that the administration of President Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino III is moving heaven and earth to go into damage control over the fire they started around…
One major problem in Philippine society is not so much the flawed system like what some have claimed. It is actually the fact that most Filipinos don’t have foresight or are unable to see problems that might arise in the future as a result of their actions. It most likely has something to do with…
Without a doubt, a lot of people would gladly do it for free. But ten million pesos to prove Senator Francisco “Kiko” Pangilinan stole from his pork barrel fund? It’s an offer that can hardly be refused. Across two tweets Pangilinan’s wife and Pinoy “megastar” Sharon Cuneta issued the following challenge sometime this week: If…
Read More “The legend of Sharon Cuneta’s P10 million Kiko challenge!” »