‘Missing’ public funds like P45 million Cordillera autonomy money
>> Monday, July 19, 2010
EDITORIAL
Lawmakers particularly those in in Congress and those in the executive department who have mastered the art of fiction writing in allocation and use of public funds are understandably cringing after President Aquino ordered the publication of detailed reports on the utilization of the congressional pork barrel.
To promote transparency, the reports must include an itemized list of materials purchased for construction or maintenance projects financed through pork barrel allocations.
Amid long-standing resistance of lawmakers to any suggestion of promoting transparency in pork barrel utilization, Aquino’s directive is a welcome development.
Take the case of the Cordillera Regional Development Council. The former administration had released P15 million then another P30 million for the conduct of a so-called information campaign on Cordillera autonomy. What happened to the funds is still a mystery. The RDC, chaired by Juan Ngalob who is also director of the regional National Economic Development Authority could not explain where the funds went or how these were spent.
Now, the RDC, on occasion of Cordillera Day last July 15, without making a detailed account of expenditures related to the funds, asked for another P30 million from the national government for another information drive on autonomy. Concerned agencies should start an investigation on the missing funds and charged those responsible for the magic acts of making these disappear.
In the national level, a number of lawmakers belong to families engaged in construction and real estate development, benefit directly from government contracts awarded through the pork barrel system.
Aggravating the corruption in agencies such as the Department of Public Works and Highways, lawmakers compel agencies to award deals to contractors or suppliers who do not meet qualifications set by the government.
The President’s order can put an end to these practices – if the reports on pork barrel utilization can be checked for accuracy. Like ranking officials in the executive branch, most lawmakers have been accused of writing fiction in official documents that they are required to file.
This, as the Commission on Elections observed, starts with the filing of statements of campaign contributions and expenditures.
Once elected or appointed to public office, their annual statement of assets, liabilities and net worth are again, products of fertile imagination. Now that former first lady Imelda Marcos is back in the House of Representatives, she could once again emerge as the poorest member of the chamber, based on her SALN, with no one trying to establish the accuracy of her statement.
It is possible, to a certain degree, to check the accuracy of the SALN, by scrutinizing it against the official’s income tax declaration, but no one has bothered to make the effort.
In statements on campaign contributions and expenditures, the Comelec has admitted that it lacked resources to verify the declarations. Will the same problem stunt the move to promote transparency in pork utilization?
President Aquino should see to it that this will not happen or the magicians among lawmakers like those in Congress or in the executive branch would make numbers appear or disappear into thin air.
To promote transparency, the reports must include an itemized list of materials purchased for construction or maintenance projects financed through pork barrel allocations.
Amid long-standing resistance of lawmakers to any suggestion of promoting transparency in pork barrel utilization, Aquino’s directive is a welcome development.
Take the case of the Cordillera Regional Development Council. The former administration had released P15 million then another P30 million for the conduct of a so-called information campaign on Cordillera autonomy. What happened to the funds is still a mystery. The RDC, chaired by Juan Ngalob who is also director of the regional National Economic Development Authority could not explain where the funds went or how these were spent.
Now, the RDC, on occasion of Cordillera Day last July 15, without making a detailed account of expenditures related to the funds, asked for another P30 million from the national government for another information drive on autonomy. Concerned agencies should start an investigation on the missing funds and charged those responsible for the magic acts of making these disappear.
In the national level, a number of lawmakers belong to families engaged in construction and real estate development, benefit directly from government contracts awarded through the pork barrel system.
Aggravating the corruption in agencies such as the Department of Public Works and Highways, lawmakers compel agencies to award deals to contractors or suppliers who do not meet qualifications set by the government.
The President’s order can put an end to these practices – if the reports on pork barrel utilization can be checked for accuracy. Like ranking officials in the executive branch, most lawmakers have been accused of writing fiction in official documents that they are required to file.
This, as the Commission on Elections observed, starts with the filing of statements of campaign contributions and expenditures.
Once elected or appointed to public office, their annual statement of assets, liabilities and net worth are again, products of fertile imagination. Now that former first lady Imelda Marcos is back in the House of Representatives, she could once again emerge as the poorest member of the chamber, based on her SALN, with no one trying to establish the accuracy of her statement.
It is possible, to a certain degree, to check the accuracy of the SALN, by scrutinizing it against the official’s income tax declaration, but no one has bothered to make the effort.
In statements on campaign contributions and expenditures, the Comelec has admitted that it lacked resources to verify the declarations. Will the same problem stunt the move to promote transparency in pork utilization?
President Aquino should see to it that this will not happen or the magicians among lawmakers like those in Congress or in the executive branch would make numbers appear or disappear into thin air.
1 comments:
45 million just gone with the wind??
where have all the flowers gone??
CORRUPT, CORRUPT and AGAIN CORRUPT!!
also as usual only in the philippines!
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