Budget Secretary Florencio Abad
MANILA, Philippines - Liberal Party (LP) stalwarts said the group is not behind the exposé of the P10-billion pork barrel scam but will support any investigation to find out the truth.
Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said it was the lawyer of whistleblower Benhur Luy, Levito Baligod, who got hold of the documents and released them to the media. Baligod is from Cagayan where former Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile also came from.
The suspected involvement of LP and Malacañang came to light as members of the opposition were first to be implicated and allies of President Aquino were perceived as being spared.
But Abad noted that even the allies of President Aquino have been tagged in the alleged misuse of pork barrel funds.
Aquino said he asked Abad and Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala to explain the reforms done to avoid leakages in the release of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), the official name of the congressional pork barrel.
Aquino also ordered Alcala to submit a written explanation on the transactions of his department with the group of Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged leader of a syndicate funneling pork barrel funds of lawmakers to bogus non-government organizations (NGOs).
For his part, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, LP’s president-on-leave, said the public perception toward the Aquino administration would not be affected by the issue since it would depend on how the government would act on the allegations.
Roxas reiterated that the Aquino administration, LP and the Cabinet would be ready to face any investigation, saying that they would be “all-out” in making sure that the PDAF utilization would be scrutinized and pen to the public.
“The whole truth about this matter must be known. We will not hide this. We will not unite to make this a secret. We will unite to know the truth because we are talking about public money here,” Roxas said.
Abad and Roxas made the statements during the commemorative dinner in San Juan City for the late interior and local government secretary Jesse Robredo, who was an LP member.
Former Sen. Francis Pangilinan, who was also present being part of the LP, said there is still no position for him in the administration and he is not eyeing the job of Alcala.
There were reports that Pangilinan would be appointed presidential adviser on agriculture but he said this was not final. He also dismissed suggestions he could possibly replace Alcala because of the pork barrel fund controversy.
NBI urged to speed up probe
Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga, meanwhile, prodded the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to speed up its probe into the pork barrel scam, impose a gag order and freeze the accounts of parties concerned.
He said prolonging the pork barrel investigation might drive away potential investors and would be “a serious blow to the business confidence which the country is enjoying right now.”
“Get it over and done with,” Barzaga said. “The issue is already taking a toll on the economy.”
“It is not doing any good not only to the House of Representatives and the Senate, but even to the country as a whole,” he added.
He also said the NBI should prohibit the witnesses from disclosing vital information while the investigation is ongoing because the government would be telegraphing its punches against Napoles, who was tagged as the brains behind the alleged scam by estranged associates Benhur Luy and Merlina Suñas.
Luy and Suñas have accused Napoles of soliciting money from the congressmen and senators’ PDAF for nonexistent or fictitious foundations over the past 10 years.
“They should have issued a gag order on their witnesses, make them immune from any publicity because this does not do good for the government, especially for building an air tight case against Napoles and her bogus NGOs,” Barzaga said.
He also cited the Department of Justice for placing Napoles and her children under its watch list but said it should also take the “appropriate remedies provided under the law.”
“They should file a petition for the issuance of freeze order insofar as the bank accounts of Napoles and other NGOs are concerned and if necessary, file a writ of attachment against Napoles and her cohorts on the basis of the testimonies of their whistleblowers,” he added.
He warned that if the government would not take these legal steps, the government might not be able to recover anything from Napoles “because it would not be farfetched to conclude that right now, there might already be some disposition of her properties.”
Barzaga earlier said a House investigation on the pork barrel mess would be useless since a congressional inquiry would not be credible.
He also filed a resolution directing the House ethics committee to investigate his colleague, Abakada party-list Rep. Jonathan de la Cruz, who earlier alleged that 98 lawmakers could have been involved in a similar scam.
Barzaga said the allegation worsened “the already clouded public perception of the legislature and undoubtedly constituted an attack on the integrity of members of the House of Representatives and the institution itself.”
But De la Cruz maintained that his statements came from a report of the Commission on Audit.
‘Money for pork, none for salary hike’
ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio, meanwhile, hit the Aquino administration for allocating at least P25 billion for the pork barrel of senators and congressmen but not a single centavo for salary increases of government workers in the proposed P2.268-trillion national budget for 2014. “There’s money for pork but none for salary increases,” Tinio said in a statement yesterday.
“The President has proposed P25 billion for legislative pork barrel funds despite intensifying calls for their abolition in the wake of revelations of unprecedented levels of graft and corruption.
“Meanwhile, for the second straight year, teachers and other government employees will be denied badly needed salary adjustments,” he noted.
“There’s money for corruption, but not to ensure that honest civil servants are given decent salaries,” he added.
The last time government employees received a salary increase was in 2012.
Unlike in the private sector, where minimum wage levels are reviewed annually, public sector salary levels are set by law.
Tinio said Malacañang and Congress must work together to authorize and appropriate the funds necessary for salary adjustments in government.
“When will the Aquino administration grant a public sector wage hike? Will they make public sector employees suffer until the presidential elections in 2016?” Tinio said.
He also noted that Budget Secretary Abad only said that the government is still studying the possibility of granting wage increases for employees in the public sector.
But public school teachers and other government employees need it now to keep up with the rising cost of living.
“How can the vaunted economic growth touted by Malacañang be felt by ordinary citizens if it does not translate to higher incomes for working people?” he said.
Currently, the lowest-paid government employee receives a monthly salary of P9,000 while a public school teacher receives P18,549.
Tinio has filed House Bill 254 that seeks to raise the salary to P15,000 and P25,000, respectively.
He also called for the realignment of funds, including those for pork barrel, to fund a public sector salary adjustment for 2014.
‘Presidential pork’ defended
A congressman-ally of President Aquino, meanwhile, defended the use by the Chief Executive of billions in casino revenues that go to his so-called social fund, which critics have labeled as “presidential pork.”
Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said the criticisms made by militant party-list lawmakers against the President’s Social Fund (PSF) and other lump sums in the national budget that Aquino can use are meant to “make the President a lame duck leader.”
“It is obvious that their grandstanding against the so-called pork of the President is to destroy his credibility and erode his high public approval rating,” said Evardone, a member of the ruling LP.
“But I think they are mistaken because the use of the PSF has been very judicious. There are strict guidelines that are being followed. And more importantly, nobody can accuse President Aquino of pocketing a single centavo from government funds,” he added.
No comments:
Post a Comment
yes