Witness: Atty. Neri Javier Colmenares
Member
Philippine House of Representatives
PORK BARREL DEFINED
 Pork Barrel – Public funds, the
disposition of which rests on the the
sole discretion of a public official as to
the amount, project and beneficiaries
 What transforms a fund into pork is
the entitlement to choose the projects,
the amounts and their beneficiaries.
4 Types of Pork Barrel
1. Lump-Sum– funds allocated
without being broken down into
detailed purpose/s, leaving a
great deal of discretion to the
hands of the head of the agency
or department, most especially
the President.
Total 2014– at least P502 Billion
2. SAVINGS (DAP—P 142 Billion)
1. The withdrawal of unobligated
allotments when the project is not
finished/abandoned
2. Cross-border transfers
3. Non existent items-Funding of projects,
activities, programs not covered by
appropriations in the GAA
 3. Off-Budget Funds – funds derived
from other sources not specified in the
Budget. Its use is under the sole discretion
of the President without need of
congressional approval such as
Malampaya, Presidential Social Fund, etc.
 Malampaya fund----------- P 208 Billion
 Presidential Social Fund -P 2.5 B/year
PDAF –25 Billion per year
 4. PDAF – lump sum appropriations in
the GAA Act to fund projects
considered a “priority” by a legislator. It
is also used for “patronage politics” by
the President to ensure the support of
members of Congress.
Presidential Pork
Why is pork barrel inherently
anomalous?
 1. It is a source of graft and corruption
 2. Pork is patronage politics where public
funds are given to allies and voters and
withheld from political enemies
 3. PORK distorts budgetary needs and
processes
BASIC SERVICES DEPRIVED OF BUDGET
LAND REFORM
EDUCATION
HOUSING
HEALTH
YET THERE IS MONEY FOR THE FOLLOWING:
Mariawa-Namantao Road P38.2 M
What is Disbursement Acceleration
Program?
Art. VI Sec. 32 Peoples Initiative
 “whereby the people can directly propose
and enact laws or approve or reject any act
or law or part thereof passed by the
Congress (upon) a petition signed by at
least 10% of the total number of registered
voters, of which every legislative district
must be represented by at least 3% of the
registered voters thereof
Possible use of the novel constitutional
provision on the peoples initiative to
pass a national legislation