No longer a thankless job

THE nationwide furor over the pork barrel was once foretold by former Senator Ping Lacson. He warned of dire consequences of the pork barrel as it began to develop at the time continued. He was referring to the 10-15% kickbacks that many legislators demanded for the projects authorized by the system at the time.

Today, we are foreseeing an even larger double-headed monster rising on the horizon. We are referring to the ongoing massive corruption, courtesy of the largely unaudited expenditures from the internal revenue allotment of all local government units. We are seeing a pattern in the election of barangay officials as we see it today in the election of congressmen and senators. When Congress had no pork barrel to speak of until mid-80s, only 30% max among incumbent dutiful affluent congressmen sought reelection. It was a thankless job. But soon after the pork barrel laced legislation chores, 99% sought reelection or substitution.  And since then, moderation of greed was never even invoked. Politics became big business with nothing to lose.

Barangay officials are now trekking down the same route via the Internal Revenue Allotment. Under the law Barangays get 20 percent of the IRA, while cities and provinces get 23 percent each, and municipalities 34 percent.  The sharing alone already poses a serious problem but that’s another story. What makes incumbent and wannabe barangay officials raring and daring during elections are the “pork barrel” not only from the IRA but also shares from the taxes collected by their LGUs from real estate property and businesses, in addition to financial assistance that they can wrangle from a mayor for political patronage. What’s the big deal? Their expenses are not audited. No barangay official is accountable for the funds. The law largely leaves it to the barangay council to protect the community’s funds. And who will dare question the authority of the council over expenditures? No one.

Beware the barangay’s IRA.  The congressmen and senators’ pork barrel are audited, the barangays’ IRA are not.

 

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Justified

THE mayor of Maribojoc, Bohol, was right and the Red Cross wrong.  No one can ever enter a town and next say, “I am in charge here.”  That is trespassing, if not downright usurpation of power.  That’s what Red Cross reportedly tried to do which forced Maribojoc Mayor Leoncio Evasco Jr. to stamp his foot.  The Red Cross had wanted to distribute relief goods their way in Evasco’s turf.  Fine.  But Evasco said it should course the action through the town’s relief operations center to avoid confusion.  Evasco was justified for invoking his territorial powers enshrined in the Constitution.  What could not be justified, however, if true, was reportedly his demand that Red Cross simply leaves its relief goods for him to distribute with no accountability.

The Red Cross may have had the best of intentions, but that does not give it the license to brush aside the powers of a duly elected person of authority.

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