Presidential Pork Barrel Primer

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    PRIME CUTS: Dissecting the presidential pork barrel

    Prepared by Kabataan Partylist

    The escalating controversy surrounding the misuse of over P10 billion under the Priority Development

    Assistance Fund (PDAF) has sparked greater public scrutiny for public funds.

    With wingman-turned-fugitive Janet Napoles on the run and President Benigno Aquino III announcing that the

    Executive Department would be suspending the release of PDAF for congressmen and senators pending the

    investigation of the issue, many people have joined the call for the abolition of the PDAF, which both the media

    and several opinion leaders have pointed to as the root of all evil. They point out that the PDAF scam actually

    involves more public funds than the Arroyo-era P728-million fertilizer fund scam and the corruption-laden NBN-

    ZTE deal which was allegedly overpriced by $130 million or some P6 billion to fund commissions.

    Public outrage over the PDAF scam has spread like wildfire, with President Aquino steering away from the

    controversy, and his PR team trying in vain to disassociate him from the allegations of corruption and fund

    misuse. Yet, only a few people realize that the PDAF scam is just the tip of the iceberg, or to use a more apt

    expression it barely greases the pan.

    A closer scrutiny of the national budget and the governments public fund management reveals a mor e

    compelling story, with the president emerging not as a nave victim but the mastermind of the pork mafia.

    Defining pork barrel

    When we talk about pork barrel, it is not enough to point to the P25-billion PDAF allocation given to

    congressmen and senators annually. The pork barrel system is an elaborate labyrinth of discretionary funding

    and shadowy allocation of public funds that lead to unscrupulous use of taxpayers money.

    To fully comprehend the vast scope of the pork barrel system, we need to unite with a concrete definition of

    pork barrel funds. To classify as pork barrel, the fund or line item should meet at least one of the following

    criteria:

    1. It is a lump-sum allocation in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) that is vulnerable to

    corruption and political maneuvering.

    2. Funds of which the manner of allocation and disbursement are left to the sole discretion of thePresident and the Executive Department he leads, thereby leading to the funding of programs

    and projects that favor his select allies instead of directly financing social services such as

    education and health.

    3. Public funds not reflected in the national budget yet are collected and used by public agencies

    particularly those in the Executive Department, with little to no financial oversight at all.

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    With these criteria firmly set, we can then proceed to identifying what funds can be considered as part of the

    presidents pork, and more or less ascertain how much that pork barrel really amounts to.

    Lump-sums

    Bulk of the budgetary accounts that can be classified under the first criteria fall under two types of accounts, the

    first one being what is collectively known as Special Purpose Funds (SPF), which the budget department

    defines as appropriations provided to cover expenditures for specific purposes for which recipient

    agencies/departments have not yet been identified during budget preparation. The second type is the

    automatic appropriations, which include lump-sum funds that do not undergo congressional scrutiny as these

    are automatically considered approved by virtue of pertinent laws.

    a. SPFs - The Table below shows the breakdown of the SPFs for 2014:

    SPECIAL PURPOSE FUNDS

    Proposed New Appropriations (In Thousand Pesos)

    PersonnelServices

    Maintenance

    and OtherOperating

    Expenses

    CapitalOutlays Total

    SPFs Programmed

    Budgetary Support to Govt Corps 42,859,935 3,836,762 46,696,697

    Allocation to LGUs 21,316 18,301,051 1,382,655 19,705,022

    Calamity Fund 3,450,000 4,050,000 7,500,000

    Contingent Fund 740,000 260,000 1,000,000

    DepEd School Building Program - 1,000,000 1,000,000

    International Commitments Fund 3,738,459 1,077,185 4,815,644

    Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund 80,713,614 80,713,614

    Feasibility Studies Fund - 400,000 400,000Pension and Gratuity Fund 120,495,952 120,495,952

    Priority Development Assistance Fund 11,160,000 14,080,000 25,240,000

    E-Government Fund - 1,889,204 589,696 2,478,900

    Total SPF, Programmed 201,230,882 82,538,649 26,276,298 310,045,829

    Retirement and Life Insurance Premium 2,072 - - 2,072

    Total SPF, Programmed Inclusive of RLIP 201,232,954 82,538,649 26,276,298 310,047,901

    Unprogrammed Fund 175,800 9,102,744 130,625,215 139,903,759

    Grand Total 201,408,754 91,641,393 156,901,513 449,951,660

    (Source: 2014 National Expenditure Program, Table 1-B)

    Of the P449 billion allotted for SPFs, a total of P310 billion are part of programmed appropriations, meaning thesaid funds are already included in the line-item budget of various agencies. Meanwhile, P139.9 billion is

    specified as unprogrammed appropriations, which is released only when revenue collections exceed original

    revenue targets, subject to approval of Executive Department.

    When compared to the allocation for 2013, here are some significant observations:

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    Calamity and contingent funds remain practically unchanged. The same goes for the DepEd SchoolBuilding Program.

    E-Government Fund increased from the current P1 billion to P2.479 billion in 2014 International Commitments Fund (fund for commitments and pledges to international organizations and

    hosting of conferences) increased from the current P2.637 billion to P4.816 billion in 2014.

    MPBF increased from the current P69.09 billion to P80.7 billion. PDAF increased from the current P24.79 billion to P25.24 billion.

    Particular focus should be given to unprogrammed funds, as this amount is used to augment the budget of

    particular agencies that the Executive Department chooses once either of the two conditions (revenue

    collections exceed targets, or foreign funds are generated) are supposedly met. During the Aquino presidency,

    unprogrammed funds increased exponentially, both as amounts proposed in the annual NEP and as amounts

    actually utilized:

    2010: Proposed unprogrammed funds amounted to P68.9 billion, of which P5.86 billion was eventuallyutilized.

    2011: Proposed unprogrammed funds amounted to P66.9 billion, of which P20.4 billion was eventuallyutilized.

    2012: Proposed unprogrammed funds amounted to P161.69 billion (no data on final amount utilized) 2013: Current unprogrammed funds amount to P117.5 billion 2014: Proposed unprogrammed funds amounts to P139.9 billion

    At this juncture, we should also observe that the much-debated PDAF is only a miniscule portion of the SPFs.

    The whole budget for PDAF can technically be considered part of the presidents pork barrel as the said fund has

    historically been used by the Executive Department as a carrot-and-stick method to gain support and patronage.

    It works like this: PDAF releases can only be made through a Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) which theDepartment of Budget and Management (DBM) processes. Without the SARO, no funds from the PDAF will be

    released. Despite the inclusion of a no impounding of funds clause in the General Appropriations Act of

    previous years, DBM systematically withholds PDAF releases to administration critics, while favored allies

    receive even more than what is allotted to them. Clearly, this is discretionary spending at its finest.

    b. Automatic appropriations - Meanwhile, automatic appropriations amount to P796 billion which constitutes

    35 percent of the total P2.26 trillion national budget.

    These automatically appropriated items include:

    1. Interest payments for debt service amounting to P352.7 billion2. Net lending or funds used for the servicing of government-guaranteed corporate debt amounting to

    P24.9 billion

    3. Internal revenue allotment for local government units amounting to P341.5 billion4. Government counterpart contribution for employees retirement and life insurance premiums (RLIP)

    amounting to P28.9 billion

    5. Special accounts in the general fund (SAGFs)totalling P21.1 billion

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    6. Tax expenditures amounting to P26.9 billionThe practice of automatically appropriating funds for interest payments and the like bars Congress or any

    oversight agency for that matter to scrutinize where these supposed automatic funds are really going. Funds

    under automatic appropriations are treated as if they were preordained by some mystic force and therefore

    cannot be discussed further, much less be deducted. The Executive Department can thus literally get away with

    any nefarious deed under these accounts without anyone knowing.

    Of particular concern are SAGF accounts, which are funds coming from specific revenue measures and grants

    that are earmarked by law for specific priority projects. SAGFs are automatically-appropriated, and are thereby

    funded annually without much public scrutiny. There are currently 56 SAGFs created by various laws,

    presidential decrees and executive orders that are highly suspicious for they do not undergo strict audit rules

    and thus are prone to abuse. Examples of SAGFs include the Malampaya fund and the fertilizer fund, both of

    which got entangled in large-scale corruption issues.

    Questionable in-budget items

    Aside from automatic appropriations and SPFs, there are also specific funds in the national budget that can be

    classified as part of the presidents pork barrel for being under the direct discretion of the executive

    department. These are:

    a. Fund for confidential and intelligence expensesThese funds are under the maintenance and other operating

    expenses budget of various agencies.

    These funds are inserted in the agency budgets for specific purposes:

    1. Confidential Funds These are funds for surveillance activities in civilian departments and agencies. Notall agencies are provided with confidential funds, as during budget preparation, the Executive

    Department exercises its discretion on which departments will be given funds for confidential expenses.

    Agencies with Confidential Funds in 2014

    - Office of the President: P250 million- Department of Environment and Natural Resources: P13.9 million- Department of Finance: P15.5 million- Department of Interior and Local Government: P20 million- Department of Justice: P200.4 million- Department of National Defense: P23 million- Department of Transportation and Communications: P10.9 million- Anti-Money Laundering Council:P5 million- National Intelligence Coordinating Agency: P1 million

    Presidential pork count: Together, SPFs (including unprogrammed funds) and automatic appropriations

    already amount to P1.246 trillion, or over 55 percent of the total P2.26 trillion national budget for 2014.

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    - Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency: P73.6 million- ARMM: P420,000- Commission on Audit: P10 million- Office of the Ombudsman: P3 million- Commission on Human Rights: P1 millionTo tighten the secrecy in the use of said funds, all disbursements or releases from this fund should have

    the immediate approval of the department secretary concerned (i.e. the alter ego of the president

    himself).

    2. Intelligence Funds These are funds for intelligence information gathering activities of uniformedpersonnel and intelligence practitioners that have direct impact to national security. Like confidential

    funds, intelligence funds are given to agencies during the budget preparation process subject to the

    discretion of the Chief Executive. Apart from that, intelligence funds can only be released upon approval

    of no less than the president himself. Details of the expenditures are kept secret, and all reports of the

    utilization of intelligence funds are submitted directly to the president.

    Agencies with Intelligence Funds in 2014

    - Office of the President: P250 million- Department of Interior and Local Government: P306 million- Department of National Defense: P246.4 million- Department of Transportation and Communications: P10 million- National Intelligence Coordinating Agency: P20.2 million- Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency: P73.6 million

    The secretive nature of these funds explicitly bars the public from scrutinizing how these funds are used. Below

    is a comparison of confidential and intelligence funds for years 2012-2013:

    FUND2012

    (ACTUAL)

    2013

    (ADJUSTED)

    2014

    (PROPOSED)

    Confidential expenses 840,881,000 602,735,000 627,793,000

    Intelligence expenses 555,864,000 801,926,000 832,626,000

    TOTAL 1,396,745,000 1,404,661,000 1,460,419,000

    b. PAMANA fundsFunds for the Payapa at MasaganangPamayanan (PAMANA) program totalling P7.22 billion

    are subdivided to several government agencies. Yet, if one scrutinizes the Special Provisions governing PAMANAfunds that are can be found in the NEP, it is explicitly stated that funds appropriated for the said program

    which by the way is the governments primary counterinsurgency program can only be used exclusively to

    implement projects in conflict-affected areas already identified by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the

    Peace Process (OPAPP). It is clear, therefore, that the president has direct discretionary power over this fund.

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    c. Conditional cash transfer funds The Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program is the countrys flagship

    poverty alleviation program, which basically allots cash grants to the poorest households in exchange for

    following certain conditions, such as ensuring that the school-age child in the family goes to class. The budget

    for conditional cash transfers has grown exponentially over the years. From P10.5 billion in 2010, P21.2 billion in

    2011, P39.5 billion in 2012, and P44.3 billion for 2013, the government now proposes a whopping P62.6 billion

    for 2014.

    Aside from being criticized as a palliative solution to the crippling poverty affecting almost a third of the

    population, CCT funds are considered vulnerable due to a couple of factors. One of this is the selection process

    for beneficiaries. In various studies, including one done by Emma Dadap of the International Institute of Social

    Studies in The Netherlands, it was revealed that even with the implementation of the P1.7-billion National

    Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction, targeting for CCT beneficiaries remain largely politicized.

    Indeed, targeting looks objective and non-partisan one paper, but the key informant from the DSWD revealed

    that for the third expansion districts had to be included as target areas because some congress representatives

    complained about the exclusion of their constituents who, they said, were very poor and deserving of the

    assistance, Dadap said in her paper published in 2011. Participants of her study also revealed that the targeting

    is not at all accurate, leaving out at times the poorest households.

    CCT funds can be considered part of the presidential pork barrel as the decision on the targeting of beneficiaries

    mainly fall onto the Department of Social Welfare and Developments discretion, along with inputs from other

    presidential commissions like the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor. As such, CCT funds open a wide

    door for the president to influence millions of families, and to target beneficiaries in a politically-motivated

    manner. The fact that CCTs are also given out in cash opens wider room for misuse, especially in areas where the

    cash transfers are accessed through rural banks that are owned by the local elite.

    d. Bottom-up Budgeting (BuB) ApproachThis is one of the more innovative ways that the Executive

    Department has utilized to expand its discretionary power over the budget allocation of various agencies. BuB is

    a participative approach started for the 2013 budget whereinthe Executive Department identifies various

    programs and projects addressing the development needs of poorest cities and municipalities in the country.

    The BuB approach supposedly widened the role of civil society organizations (CSOs) in the preparation of the

    budget.

    However, the BuB is replete with loopholes that made its supposed participatory approach a mere PR trick. First

    of all, the governments choice of CSO partners is already questionable. Apart from that, BuB is clearly fashioned

    after the PDAF, as under this approach, specific projects for cities and municipalities are identified. The big

    difference between BuB and PDAF, of course, is that the projects identified under BuB are already incorporated

    in the national budget, unlike in PDAF wherein legislators need to nominate choice projects.

    The BuB approach clearly expanded not the participation of grassroots organizations, but the presidents

    discretion over local projects, meaning its the Executive Departments new pork barrel fund. In effect, projects

    identified under BuB are Aquinos very own pork barrel projects.

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    In the 2013 budget, the fund under BuB reached P8.4 billion spread over 595 municipalities. For 2014, the

    budget under BuBwas expanded to reach a total of P20.03 billion spread over 1,226 municipalities, almost at par

    with the PDAF (which stands at P25.2 billion for 2014).

    Realigned savings

    Now, the presidents unprecedented control of the national budget does not end with the passage of the

    General Appropriations Act. Actually, more nefarious activities occur after that. If for some reason, an agency

    was not able to use (or was not allowed to read: DBM not releasing budget) parts of its allocation during a

    particular fiscal year, the laws of the land bestow upon the president the power to realign funds to any item of

    expenditure in any agency that he wants to.

    This power is actually grounded in Article VI, Section 25 of the 1987 Constitution wherein the president, along

    with the Senate President, the House Speaker and heads of Constitutional Commissions are authorized to

    "augment any item in their in the general appropriations law for their respective offices from savings in other

    items oftheir respective appropriations. The problem, however, lies in the interpretation of the term Office of

    the President, which has been liberally interpreted as any agency under the Executive Department.

    DBM has, in fact, released a memorandum circular explaining the presidents power to reallocate savings. In

    National Budget Circular 541, DBM was empowered to centralize unobligated funds to cover additional

    funding for other existing projects. This resulted to the realignment of P75 billion unobligated funds from fiscalyear (FY) 2012 and P27 billion from FY 2013.

    What does this broad fiscal power of the executive entail? Simple it means that the government can simply

    withhold parts of allocations of specific agencies for a particular year, tag these funds as savings and realign

    these funds to favored programs and projects. Being the department in charge with the preparation and

    eventual disbursement of the national budget, the Executive can thus have access to unlimited funds anytime of

    the year.

    It is important to note, at this point, that if the abolition of the PDAF pushes through without the abolition of all

    the other components of the pork barrel system and without the necessary realignment of funds directly tosocial services, President Aquino can still dab his greasy hand in the spoils of PDAF for it will only become part

    of the so-called savings and would be realigned for other purposes. Thats why our call should always be double-

    edged: abolish the pork barrel system, then realign funds directly to social services.

    Presidential pork count: Adding P1.46 billion for confidential and intelligence funds, P7.22 billion for

    PAMANA, P62.6 billion under CCT, and P20.03 billion under BuB to the previous P1.246 trillion total

    (SPFs+automatic appropriations), our pork count now totals P1.337trillion. But wait, theres more!

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    Off-budget accounts

    So far, weve discussed the scope of the presidential pork barrel under the annually appropriated national

    budget. But did you know that there are such things as off-budget accounts, or funds collected and utilized by

    government agencies but are not reflected in the annual budget documents?

    Off-budget accounts (OBAs) have been quite permanent fixtures in the Philippine governments budgeting

    system. Bulk of OBAs are earmarked revenues, or funds collected by government agencies for specific uses

    predetermined by an existing law.

    In a paper unsurprisingly titled Off-budget Accounts released by the US Agency for International Development

    (USAID) in 2009, it was revealed that OBAs represent less than 5 percent of the national budget each year. For

    2007, it was estimated to be around P56 billion. Using the same percentage, this means that for 2014, it is

    possible that OBAs can clock in to about P110 to P113 billion. And thats not reflected in the national budget!

    Aside from being virtually invisible in the NEP, the government does not provide an official list of OBAs. We may

    call them the governments hidden wealth, as these funds are usually not reflected in the national budget and

    thus are shielded from public scrutiny. The list of OBAs in the Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing is

    incomplete, and generally includes only funds that constitute the revolving fund of several agencies. According

    to USAID, there are more than 300 OBAs existing, with at least 367 accounts identified in 2007.

    These accounts are highly vulnerable to improper, if not illegal, acts on account of the generally n on-

    transparent nature of their operations, the USAID said. Most of the funds are discretionary in nature, and the

    internal control procedures for most funds are generally lax, with disbursement of funds generally needing only

    the mere order and signature of at most two officials, USAID noted.

    Some glaring examples of OBAs include the Presidents Social Fund, an off-budget account sourced from the

    income of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes

    Office (PCSO) which is utilized for priority projects of the president. Under PAGCOR and PCSOs charter, they are

    mandated to remit parts of their revenues to the Social Fund annually. PAGCOR estimates that it will be able toremit around P2.3-2.4 billion to the said OBA in 2014.

    Another controversy-ridden OBA is PCSOs charity fund, which is also utilized by the Office of the President as

    pork barrel. According to the PCSO website, the charity fund is a trust and liability account and is used

    exclusively to finance and support health programs, medical assistance and services and/or charities of national

    Presidential pork count: As the amount realigned as savings vary each year, it is difficult to

    ascertain the total funds which will be realigned for 2014 (unless youre the president of course,

    because somehow, you might have already done the math!) So lets add a plus sign (+) to our

    previous count to account for this item, thereby putting the count at P1.337+ trillion. But the

    presidential pork barrel doesnt end there.

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    character. Presently, any disbursements from the Charity Fund must not only be authorized by the PCSO Board

    of Directors but must also be approved by the Office of the President, regardless of the amount thereof.

    PCSO is mandated by its charter to remit to the charity fund 30 percent of its gross receipts from the sale of

    sweepstakes tickets, including all unclaimed prize money. This means that for every one peso earned by PCSO

    from sweepstakes ticket sales, 30 centavos automatically goes to the charity fund. According to the 2011 Annual

    Audit Report of the Commission on Audit (COA), PCSO has set aside P8.127 billion for the charity fund for the

    said year. COA noted that PCSO disbursed some P5.39 billion under the said fund for questionable expenses.

    Review of 2011 disbursements revealed that expenses which are not related to health programs, medical

    assistance and services and/or charities or national character were charged to Charity Fund, COA said.

    Meanwhile, PCSOs income statements from the year 2012 to present remain a mystery, as the said agency has

    consistently failed to submit said documents to DBM.

    Cutting the fat

    Counting savings and OBAs in, the total presidential pork barrel lies somewhere in between P1.3-1.5 trillion,

    which is anywhere between 58 to almost 70 percent of the total national budget! The very fact that we cannot

    ascertain the actual amount is proof of the pork barrel systems circuitous and wily character. Imagine how

    much of those funds are lost to corruption, and go straight to the pockets of officials of the Executive

    Department, particularly the president himself.

    After explaining in length the various components of the presidential pork barrel, the question now left for us to

    answer is how we can push for its abolition and eventual rechanneling to direct spending for social services.

    It is important to note that some funds included in the computation for the presidential pork barrel are

    grounded on pertinent laws, including automatic appropriations and OBAs. However, even if we subtract these

    amounts, the presidential pork barrel would still be sufficiently large to warrant stricter financial oversight and

    public scrutiny.

    Concretely speaking, it would be easy for the Executive Department to remove the SPFs, as these funds are not

    covered by existing laws, except the annual General Appropriations Act. In fact, COA has advised DBM in the

    past to refrain from transferring funds from one lump-sum/special purpose fund (SPF) to another, or utilizing

    the appropriation of one Fund for purposes of another Fund, otherwise the intentions of the appropriation law

    will be circumvented.

    If the government is sincere in its anti-corruption drive, it could easily dissolve the SPFs and return the funds

    directly to agencies. The MPBF, for example, can be returned as line items in the personnel service budget of

    Presidential pork count: Lets add another plus sign (+) to our total amount to account for this item,as it is difficulteven for the World Bank and USAID to determine how much these mysterious

    OBAs actually amount to. So the presidential pork barrel now rests at P1.337++ trillion

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    agencies, with specific guidelines on how it should be utilized. The PDAF, meanwhile, can be rechanneled to

    fund social services directly, such as augmenting the meagre budget of public hospitals and state schools.

    Removing SPFs would cut the presidential pork by some P450 billion.

    Now these concrete steps are largely technical and bureaucratic in nature, and there is no guarantee that

    corruption would be eradicated if these reforms push through. Reforms are not the end-all, be-all solution for

    the widespread corruption beleaguering our nation.

    Rather, we should keep in mind that apart from laws and statutes that enabled the presidential pork barrel to

    continue growing, it is the countrys bankrupt political system buttressed by the very people who benefit from

    it thats nursing this monster. And we can only slay the beast that is corruption if we overthrow and conquer

    the hand that feeds and nourishes it.

    Moving forward

    With the components of the presidential pork barrel now clearly delineated and concrete steps for its abolition

    outlined, it would already sound silly to call only for the abolition of the PDAF. Doing so would be ignoring the

    elephant in the room. Clearly, what we need is a major restructuring of our public financial management system,

    and an overhaul of our laws and guidelines that helped institutionalize this monstrous pork barrel system.

    Also, to properly assess and comprehend the gravity of the situation, we need to put the issue of pork barrel in

    the context of a national budget that has, for decades, followed the dictates of big business and international

    funding institutions.

    The proposed P2.268-trillion national budget is laden with big-ticket infrastructure projects, with DBM allotting a

    total of P399.4 billion for infrastructure development, representing a 35.5 percent increase from the current

    P294.7 billion budget. Aside from serving as a larger feeding ground for corruption, bulk of these infrastructure

    funds will undergo the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) scheme, wherein the government allows the private

    sector to invest and partly finance public projects.

    With neoliberal policies firmly in place, out sprouted a system wherein private business ventures are given

    incentives and guarantees by the government through the PPP Framework and other agreements, while direct

    funding to social services continue to dwindle. While every nook and cranny of the 2014 budget has been made

    into a ready source of corruption, our state hospitals and state schools are left to feast on scraps. For 2014, the

    presidents pork barrel will get a big boost, while 79 SUCs will suffer budget cuts.

    With a president not keen on abolishing PDAF, much less the whole pork barrel system, the people have no

    choice left but to fight back. For we deserve better.

    Our urgent tasks:

    1. Instead of focusing on the PDAF issue which is only the tip of the iceberg, we need to expose the fullscope of the presidential pork barrel and explain to the people why it needs to be abolished.

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    2. Hold officials and agencies particularly the President and his cohorts accountable for systematicallysustaining the pork barrel behemoth for their own selfish interests.

    3. Intensify our two-fold call for the abolition of the presidential pork barrel and the rechanneling ofgovernment funds directly to social services.

    ABOLISH THE PRESIDENTIAL PORK BARREL!

    RECHANNEL PORK BARREL FUNDS TO SOCIAL SERVICES!

    REFERENCES:

    1. National Expenditure Program, Fiscal Year 2014. Published by the Department of Budget and Management, July2013.

    2. Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing (Tables), Fiscal Year 2014. Published by the Department ofBudget and Management, July 2013.

    3. Off-Budget Accounts. Publication produced for review by the United States Agency for InternationalDevelopment, July 2009.

    4. National Budget Circular 541: Adoption of Operational Efficiency Measure Withdrawal of Agencies UnobligatedAllotments as of June 30, 2012. Released by the Department of Budget and Management, July 18, 2012.

    5. The Politics of Conditional Cash Transfers of the Philippines. Research paper by Emma Lynn Dadap, 2011.International Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, The Netherlands.

    6. Report No. 54584-PH: Philippines Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability. Published by the World BankPoverty Reduction and Economic Management Sector Unit, May 2010.