Mayors praise pork barrel abolition

A vast majority of the 143 Mayors in Eastern Visayas have expressed their support for the abolition of the Priority Development Assistance Fund or PDAF of congressmen. The city and municipal mayors of the region informed the press during their training sponsored by the Department of Budget and Management that they were relieved to hear that the multi-million PDAF budget held by each congressional representative would soon be turned over to local government units and government agencies.

Southern Leyte Mayor Oliver Ranque of Libagon had expressed the sentiments of the majority of the other mayors in Eastern Visayas, informing the press that “the pork barrel system” was unfair to local chief executives who are from a different party. He added that even among political allies of congressman the distribution of funds depended on how close you are to them. For some it’s hard to get funding assistance and for some much easier.” In contrast Southern Leyte Mayor Melchor Petracorta of Limasawa said there was still a need to retain the congressman’s PDAF since it was the most accessible source of funds for local government units. Municipal Mayor Isidro Bandal of Capul of Northern Samar said distribution of national government resources would be fair if the funding system was given directly to the cities and municipalities.

He added that “If you were not a political ally of a congressman, you would have a hard time getting funding for your development projects. In fact it would be much easier for us to get aid from government agencies than from our congressmen.” Mayor Lino Balanquit of Pambujan Northern Samar said he was in favor of ending the pork barrel system to greatly minimize corruption.

“Pork barrel funds have been a tool of congressman to reward their party mates and deprive political foes of getting a share of the budget” Balanquit concluded. The mayors training workshop of the Department of Budget and Management was conducted to inform the mayors of the region of the advantages the local government units would receive when the PDAF for congressmen is deleted in the 2014 National Budget.