ongess finally passed the zorg govern- ming work There have, indeed, been a good ment budget last wdel! with House of number of uses of PDAF funds over the years Representatives appropriations com- that have been of wide benefiL mittee chair Rolando AndayaJr. quoted Our problem with the pork barrel lies in as admitting that it allots substantial funds the wide gap between theory and reality in all to congressmen and senators for their cho- aspects of its operationalizatiorl In the ideal sen proiects. Based on reader mail I've re- world, the following would be fiue: (0 Our ceived over the years, the congressional pork representativesin Congress truly represent barrel ran-ks high among t}le features of our the will of theA respective constituencies, political system most detested by tlle pub- whether defined geographically or sectorally; lic-along r,yith wa4g-wangs, buildings and (2) They exercise good judgnent on what facilities marked with politicians' names or serves the greatest good for the greatest initials, and billboards attributing govem- ment projects to politicians. ilo mH uilclt number, whether in policymaking or budget CIELITO F. HABITO allocatioq 6) Policies, programs and projects The pork barel has always been subject they approve are consistent with a widely to bitter debate since its institutionalization the pork barrel is moti ted by pctliticians' . ageed development vision and str-dtegic plan in 1990 as the Countrywide Development desire to gain favor with their constituents, that includes a weU-conceived public invest- Fund, later renamed Priority Development .thereby raising tleir chancos to get reelect- ment prcgram; and (4) Implementing agen- Assistance Fund (PDAF). Apart ftom lump ed; at worst, it is a way to siphon off large cies in the exeotive branch could then be sum funds of which each senator and con- sums of money into the wrong pockets. trusted to implement approved programs gressnan gets a predetermined allocation, The other side argues that pork barret and projects efEciendy and effectively. the term also refers to budget insertions des- finds its legat basis in the "power of the The problem is that most of us proba- ignated by legislators as "congressional ini- purse" bestowed on elected legislators by bly believe all four statements to be false, tiatives," These now reportedly amount to at the Constitution. In theory, elected repre- under Philippine realities. (To be fair, least P16o million each for congressmen and sentatives of the people should know best though, they are not false all of the time; P3 bilion each for senators. In 2o1o, the how their hard-earned tax money should there are good exceptions out there.) amounts allocated were far less than that, at be spent. Thus, in our democratic system In the wake of the Napoles scam, most ryo million and P2oo million respectively. of government largely patterqed after the of us probably believe that the pork barrel What's wrong n'ith gMng legislators American model, the "executive branch has on balance been misused and abused such control over budget funds? Critics ar- proposes while the legislative branch dis- too much, and has no place in our govern- gue tlat senators and congressmen are poses" on t}le matter ofbudget allocation. ment budget Moreover, the bulk of the elected to enact laws, not to'identify and In shorg it is the legislature that should pork has been loaded onto the budgets of implement projects, which are the respon- have the lait word on spending our ta( pesos. agencies that have lately failed to demon- sibility of the executive branch. Based on Perhaps the most-cited defense for the pork strate good absorptive capacity or effec- this reasoning, the pork barrel has no place banel is its "fine-tuning" role that makes pos- tive imptementation. So if you ask me, I'd in a tripartite form of democratic govern- sible appropriate budget responses to iontin- rather keep pork out of our diet (that:s ment with distinct separation of powers, gencies and local-level concems tlnt are what they call their legislature in Japan). r, and legislators have no business involving rmanticipated, overlooked or neglected in de- themselves in particular proiects. At best, par$nent- or ageircylevel budget program- cielito.habito@gmail.com