by ERNESTO T. SOLIDUM
While public attention and ire are focused on P10 billion scam, there’s little doubt that this anomaly will not surface again in the future. Such callous raid on the Treasury is affront to the conscience of civilized society where trust and confidence are bestowed on elected public officials. The Commission On Audit (COA), a government watchdog on its official report has ruled out any possibility of collusion with those involved. Those involved must be prosecuted for this dastardly act. Those who pocketed their huge PDAF allocations instead of spending it on public projects must be answerable under the law. The P500 million or above is considered economic plunder. This grants no bail and if convicted, perpetual disqualification from holding public office and forfeiture of all his separation pay benefits.
Senate President Franklin Drilon is disillusioned about this wanton excesses of his colleagues. He came out with a drastic proposal to abolish Congress. Hopefully, this would smoother the tarnished image the PDAF scam has created. Atty. Romulo Macalintal, a leading election lawyer approves the abolition subject to Constitutional amendments. Article VI which creates the legislature or Congress must be deleted. With the abolition of Congress, all 80 governors will replace them and the term of office is limited to six (6) years. Since there will be no budget for salaries and allowances, the total generated savings must be sufficient to build 180,000 classrooms or cement 400 kilometers of standard 2 lane highway or water reservoir to generate electricity and for irrigation.
Pres. P-noy has declared the suspension of 2013 PDAF fund releases of legislators in response to public outrage against it. The current allocation is P200 million per senator and P70 million per congressman. The President aims to overhaul its implementing guidelines by having the congressman or senator identify projects, project beneficiaries, and purpose before a government line agency releases the fund. Under the proposed guideline, the lawmaker have no direct involvement as to money claims under his PDAF.
Many critics noted the reluctance of President P-noy to totally scrap the pork barrel. Why target only the PDAF of legislators and not his own pork barrel that amounts to P24 billion annually? Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda explains that the P24 billion is the President’s Social Fund taken from earnings of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation. This is held in trust and is replenished from year to year by these agencies. Lacierda cited government assistance to provinces and cities stricken by calamities like typhoon, flood and earthquake. The standby fund allows emergency response without going through the hassles of congressional funding approval.
Congress, based on recent history was abolished by Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos in 1972. He replaced it with a parliament, a unicameral system. However, it was never meant to curb excessive spending by politicians but to perpetuate himself in power.
To date, we have 10,000 laws Congress enacted. But who cares to implement them to the fullest? For instance we have one of the most comprehensive environmental and forest conservation laws in the world and yet we have the highest level of pollution and deforestation. Laws not implemented according to its spirit and intent are technically dead and fit to be placed in the archives. Japan may have far less laws than the Philippines, but Japan is far more economically progressive, stable, peaceful. Government officials are of high integrity. What matters most is proper law enforcement as crime never pay.
It is highly ironic, LGU’s like Kalibo require commercial establishments like banks, malls and pawnshops to install CCTV cameras as a requirement to obtain Mayor’s permit. This is one way to deter nefarious activities of criminals. This is a symptom of the presence of thieves. Yet the heist that could be hauled usually never come to more than a million pesos.
The big buck swindlers are located in air conditioned rooms of congress, clothed with immunity the amount involves billion of pesos annually. The hallowed halls of Congress and NGO offices require CCTVs more than any place.
Prosecution of erring public officials involved in the scam must not be regimented and painfully slow like the Maguindanao massacre trial. Rather, judicial processes must be hastened since majority of our present and past lawmakers are involved. Based on their filed SALN’s, our lawmakers comprise the upper five (5) percent of our society. The rich and famous like the Ampatuans of Maguindanao have the capacity to hire a battery of topnotched trial lawyers. The scope and magnitude of the problem makes it Quizotic but there’s a rubout – the power of the vote.
Under no circumstances, the Ombudsman and Department of Justice must rapidly promulgate the resolution of the second biggest scam in our nations’ history. Let no one fool the people all the time. Let justice runs its course regardless of who gets hurt in the process. Here credibility of P-noy is tested with his dogged determination to rid the government of corrupt officials. He does not need to fear since under the Constitution his term ends in 2016. This can be P-noy’s legacy to the present and future generation. /MP
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