With conviction, senatorial candidate Francis "Chiz" Escudero said that he can still work and fulfill his duties as a legislator even without the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF)— more popularly known as pork barrel—should he win in the May 2013 elections.
Chiz then challenged his fellow legislators to be transparent about their spending of PDAF allocations.
This became one of the topics discussed at the firstSenator Forum held in UP Diliman Film Center, Quezon City, last Wednesday, April 9.
Chiz stressed, “...Pinatunayan ko na ‘yan nung si Pangulong [Gloria Macapagal-] Arroyo ang presidente.
“Tatlong-taong huling termino ko bilang Congressman [1st District of Sorsogon], zero PDAF kami."
After serving in Congress for nine years, he was elected as senator in 2007.
“Unang tatlong taon bilang senador, noong si Pangulong Arroyo pa rin ang President, wala din po siyang ni-release sa amin,” he revealed.
“Nabuhay at nanalo pa rin kami bilang kongresista no’n at nakapagsilbi pa rin kami nang tapat maski na walang PDAF.”
TRANSPARENCY IS THE KEY. Chiz then cited what he believes is the reason why the pork barrel is consistently such a hot topic.
“Dapat hindi lump sum ‘yan,” he declared. “Dapat line item at nakalagay kung saan nilalagay ‘yan ng kada senador."
According to Businessdictionary.com, line item is defined as “a unit of information in a document, record, or statement, shown on a separate line of its own.”
He resumed, “Kung iisipin po ninyo, P200 million ang PDAF na ibinibigay sa kada senador kung iri-release ‘yan.
“Sa anim na taon, ibig sabihin no’n, ang dadaan sa kamay ng kada senador sa pamamagitan ng PDAF ay P1.2 billion.”
With this huge amount of money designated to a legislator, Escudero pointed out that taxpayers have every right to know how their taxes are being spent.
“Maganda po at dapat lamang na tanungin ang kada senador, saan po ba nila nilagay ‘yan?
“Naramdaman man lang ba ‘yan ng ating kababayan?”
Chiz's next statement was directed to his other fellow legislators.
“Ngayong eleksiyon, hinihiling natin ang tulong ng ating mga kababayan, dapat lang siguro tanungin ng ating mga kababayan, ano na ba ang naitulong mo sa P1.2 billion na ‘yan, sa bawat sulok ng bansa na binibisita po namin?”
Just recently, the Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines or CBCP called for the abolition of the pork barrel— which, the bishops claimed, is the source of corruption.
Time and again, the question to ask is: "Saan napupunta?"
For Chiz's part, he made the information about his pork barrel allocations available on his website, including his Facebook and Twitter accounts.
“Kahit sino po ang gustong magtanong, nilagay po namin ‘yan sa dalawang bagay; construction repair at rehabilitation ng public market sa lahat ng munisipyo sa buong bansa.
“Wala po kaming pinili— kakampi man o kalaban, kakilala o hindi, kapartido man o hindi, malaki man o maliit na bayan— dinownload po namin ‘yang pondo sa LGUs [local government units].
“At pangalawa, layunin din po naming magbaba ng pondo at binabaan po naming lahat ng regional hospitals sa lahat ng bansa bilang medical assistance sa indigent patients.”
Lastly, he reiterated, “Hindi po namin hinawakan yung pondo.
"Dinownload po namin ‘yan sa mga ng ospital. Dinownload po namin ‘yan sa mga LGUs.
“Dasal at dalangin ko, kung magkakaroon pa rin ng PDAF ang bawat senador, sana maging bukas, transparent at maramdaman ng bawat Pilipino yung pondong dumaan sa mga palad at kamay ng bawat senador.”