Tens of thousands of Filipinos protested in a Manila park yesterday, demanding the scrapping of a corruption-tainted development fund that allows lawmakers to allocate government money for projects in their districts.
A government audit released on Aug. 16 found that US$141 million of the fund allocated over three years under the previous administration was released to questionable aid groups and ghost projects.
The scandal centered on a powerful businesswoman who allegedly collaborated with lawmakers in channeling some of the funds. She has gone into hiding after she was charged with illegal detention of a whistle blower.
Photo: Reuters
Local media reports of her lavish lifestyle have angered many ordinary taxpayers in the Southeast Asian country where nearly 28 percent of the 97 million people live on a little more than a dollar a day.
That prompted calls on social media for yesterday’s protest in Rizal Park, where more than 100,000 people turned out, including students, workers, priests and nuns.
Similar protests were held in a dozen other cities across the country, and in New York and other cities where there are concentrations of Filipinos.
Some Manila protesters carried placards saying “Senators, you should be ashamed of yourselves.”
Others wore masks with a picture of a pig’s face, or shirts calling for the abolition of the fund.
Archbishop of Manila Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle told the cheering crowd that all Filipinos should act in an honorable way. The rally coincided with National Heroes Day.
“Let us also listen to the voice of God, especially in our conscience,” Tagle said.
Actress Mae Paner, who wore a pig’s snout, a wig and a barrel around her body, said she was joining millions of Filipinos who “want to abolish the pork-barrel system in our country.”
Impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona, who was convicted last year by senators for failing to declare US$2.4 million in bank accounts, joined the crowd, but left after being heckled by some protesters.
Critics said Philippine President Benigno Aquino III’s promise on Friday last week to reform the system was not enough, and that all pork-barrel funds must be abolished because they are prone to corruption.
Aquino, who has made fighting corruption a centerpiece of his administration, said he has abolished the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and will replace it with a system that plugs loopholes that allow for misuse.
He said there was nothing “intrinsically wrong” with the system, but it has been abused by “a few greedy individuals.”
He vowed to prosecute those who misuse the fund.
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said that with the abolishing of the PDAF, the money will now go to specific projects of government agencies.
Under the PDAF system, lump sums were earmarked in the government budget for projects proposed by each lawmaker — 200 million pesos (US$4.6 million) a year for each senator. The projects and beneficiaries were identified by the lawmakers after the budget was passed by Congress.
Lacierda said that under the new system, no lump sum will be earmarked for legislators, no funds will be channeled to non-government organizations and the public can monitor the release of the funds through the government’s Web site.
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