PRIMER: The pork barrel system

Pagbabago! People's Movement for Change September 2013

1. What is the pork barrel? In general, the term pork barrel refers to government appropriations used by politicians to fund pet projects and programs for their personal political and economic gain. In the national budget, pork barrel funds usually come in the form of discretionary, lump sum appropriations that the president, senators and congressmen allocate for their favored districts or localities. Because of their discretionary and amorphous nature, pork barrel funds are vulnerable to corruption and abuse.

Presidential or executive pork barrel (partial list) President's Social Fund - P2.4 billion Malampaya Fund - P132 billion Motor Vehicle Users Charge Fund - P12 billionw Assistance to LGUs - P19.7 billion School Building Program - P1 billion Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund - P80.7 billion Unprogrammed Fund - P139.9 billion International Commitments Fund - P4.8 billion Calamity Fund - P7.5 billion Contingent Fund - P1 billion Empowerment Fund (Bottom Up Budgeting) P250 million Intelligence and Confidential Funds - P500 million Special accounts and discretionary funds in various agencies - at least P96 billion Congressional pork barrel a.k.a. Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) P70 million per congressman P200 million per senator

The pork barrel system in the national government is replicated in the local government units such that local executives and legislators are also given lump sum allocations to be spent for their constituents at their sole discretion. But this will not be covered in this primer. 2. How did the pork barrel system develop? Every year, the President proposes a national budget to Congress for its approval. This is known as the annual General Appropriations Act or GAA. Using their "power of the purse," congressmen and senators are supposed to refine the President's proposed budget to make it more attuned to the needs of their constituents and the nation as a whole.

In reality, the budget deliberations are a venue for intense horse trading between the Executive and Legislative branches. Congressmen and senators haggle for funds supposedly for projects in their districts and constituencies. To facilitate the process and supposedly ensure equality in the allocation of funds, the the Countrywide Development Fund (CDF) was established, later renamed the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF). Said fund is a fixed, lump sum amount allocated to every member of Congress to be spent at their discretion.This is known as the congressional pork and is worth P25.3 billion in 2014.

But the biggest chunk of the pork goes to the President himself. The PDAF pales in comparison to the discretionary, lump sum appropriations of the President, estimated to be anywhere from P500 billion to P1.3 trillion. From these appropriations the President allocates, often hidden from congressional oversight and public scrutiny, funds for his favored projects, beneficiaries and politicians. From this "mother of all pork" also comes the additional pork barrel given to members of Congress, on top of the PDAF. 3. How does the pork barrel system result in the plunder of public funds? The P10 billion Napoles pork barrel scam illustrates how vulnerable the pork barrel system is to plunder and abuse. Politicians and bureaucrats, from the President down to the baranggay kagawad, in cooperation with crooks like Napoles who serve as brokers, operators and outright scammers, are able to skim billions a year from the congressional and presidential pork barrel funds. The process starts with the president, congressman or senator nominating a pet project to the DBM for funding from his pork barrel allocation. Once approved, they or their representatives are able to negotiate

with contractors, suppliers and beneficiaries on how to proceed with the project - from bidding, actual construction or implementation down to identifying the list of individual beneficiaries.

On top of the "SOP" kickback of 10% of contract cost, implementing agencies/officials and scammers like Napoles may get anywhere from 10-50% in kickbacks. There are many ways to skin the cat - from overpricing, use of substandard materials, non-completion, and ghost deliveries or fake implementation. In the case of the P10 billion Napoles scam, funds for local government projects were allegedly channeled to fake non-government organizations (NGOs) with manufactured lists of members, with as much as 60% of project funds going back to the congressman or senator. For the president, senators and congressmen, pork barrel funds allow for the easy use of public funds for personal gain.

4. What is the role of the pork barrel system in Philippine politics? The ruling elites who lord it over Philippine politics instituted the pork barrel system for the following ends:

Fuel for patronage politics - Projects and programs funded by the pork barrel are designed to get the loyalty and support of a politician's constituents and to bolster his/her political stock. Discretion over these funds is left solely to the politician so that he can use it for his self-serving political agenda. Thus the common practice of placing politicians pictures and names on oversized billboards proclaiming certain infrastructure projects and the denial of projects to bailiwicks of political rivals. The tendency is for the politician to act as if the pork barrel were his personal funds so that its beneficiaries become indebted solely to him.

Wellspring of corruption - The discretionary and amorphous nature of the pork barrel makes it especially vulnerable to corruption. The legislator or executive official who decides on his own how the fund is spent gets to dictate who the beneficiaries are and which contractor or supplier will bag the project. He also gets to decide how kickbacks are to be distributed. Tool for Executive control over Congress - Because the release of the PDAF requires the approval of the Executive through the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the President is able to use it as a carrot and stick over senators and congressmen. For measures important to Malacanang, the threat of a delay or disapproval of one's pork barrel allocation, or prospect of an early and smooth release, is enough to convince legislators to vote a certain way. Thus, the pork barrel system distorts,undermines and contravenes the entire system of checks and balances between the Executive and the Legislative branches, leading to even greater connivance among the ruling elites.

In a nutshell, the pork barrel system plays a key role in maintaining the bureaucrat capitalist mode of government, where the ruling elites - composed of big landlords, big corporations with their foreign partners, political dynasties and power brokers are able to use government mechanisms and resources to enrich and entrench themselves in power at the expense of the ordinary citizen.

5. Can the pork barrel system be reformed? The pork barrel system, by design, lends itself to graft and corruption. It is a product of the unholy alliance among the ruling elites in the Executive

and Congress for the aim of enriching and entrenching themselves in power. It has proven itself beyond reform and should be abolished outright.

The Aquino government and its apologists would like to foster the illusion that new and stricter mechanisms will stop the plunder. It is important to point out that menus and itemization of projects have been tried before, to no effect. As long as senators, congressmen and the president are given pork barrel funds, to mean lump sum amounts under their sole discretion, in whatever guise, they will always interfere with the actual use of said funds and the plunder will not stop.

6. What does it mean to abolish the pork barrel system? The following steps are important for the abolition of the pork barrel system: 1. Remove the congressional and presidential lump sum appropriations from the GAA. 2. Rechannel the funds directly to agencies and list projects and programs to be funded by said appropriations as line budget items. 3. Reiterate in the GAA that line item budgets sourced from the abolished pork barrel appropriations are too be fully implemented and not subject to the discretion of the President or any member of Congress. 4. Introduce stronger freedom of information provisions in the GAA to ensure transparency and accountability in the use of public funds. 7. What will it take to abolish the pork barrel system? It is important to sustain and direct the widespread outrage over the abuse of the pork barrel system into actual gains for our people. Thus it is important both to demand the investigation, prosecution and punishment of Janet Napoles, the senators, congressmen and public officials involved in the P10 billion pork barrel scam as well as those implicated in the COA report of 2007-2009 and other COA audits. Such legal actions must also cover pork barrel releases under the administration of Pres. Noynoy Aquino.

Equally important are the measures to decisively abolish the pork barrel system itself, as outlined in the answers to the previous questions. Make no mistake, Malacaang and Congress will fight tooth and nail to retain the pork barrel system. But as experience has taught us in the past, strong public opinion plus sustained and concerted mass actions by citizens, both organized and unorganized can lead to positive and substantial reforms.#

Please join the big anti-pork barrel system actions on 13 September 2013, 3-7pm Luneta and on September 21 (details to be announced).