Aquino Won’t Control Pork

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

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MANILA, Philippines—The next president will no longer enjoy the power of the pork that his predecessor did by virtue of a key provision inserted into the General Appropriations Act of 2010, a development that could help determine the leadership and alignments in the incoming 15th Congress.

The hands of presumptive president-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III will be tied by Section 67 of the law, which calls for a “prohibition against impoundment of appropriations,” Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman of Lakas-Kampi-CMD said Thursday.

The provision prevents the president from withholding the release of a budget allocation without the approval of both the Senate and the House of Representatives by a simple majority of the quorum.

Lagman, vice chair of the powerful House appropriations committee, said he introduced the provision during the 2009 budget deliberations to “protect the appropriations” approved by Congress.

The pork barrel, formally known as the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), comes from the national budget and funds legislators’ pet projects like roads, school buildings and day-care centers. It has long been known to be a source of kickbacks and campaign funds for lawmakers.

A senator is entitled to P200 million in PDAF every year and a member of the House, P70 million.

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That's great! That means we will have a President that has totally no control over congress and the senate. GMA has used the pork barrel in the past as a carrot and a stick to get the congressmen and senators in line with her wishes. I find it curious that this provision was passed just before we get a new President. Which now will have no say or even a small amount of control of a corrupt congress.

Isn't it amazing how these things are just coming up now just as GMA is elected into congress? I don't know, but something smells fishy.

Full article here.