Abad: PDAF rules OK’d by Congress in 2012 GAA Tighter rules on pork realignment a legislative decision, not DBM’s Budget and Management Secretary Florencio B. Abad today reiterated that the limit for realigning the Priority Assistance Development Fund (PDAF) was not a decision rendered by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), but was already identified in the 2012 General Appropriations Act (GAA), approved by the House of Representatives in 2011. “The limits for the use of PDAF were not decided on solely by the DBM. This agency does not wield—and has never wielded—the authority to control the release of lawmakers’ PDAF. Rather, these rules were actually approved by our very own Congressmen when they reviewed the 2012 National Expenditure Program last year,” Abad said. Abad’s statement comes in the wake of recent news reports, which described opposition from various lawmakers to tighter rules for utilizing the PDAF, popularly referred to as “pork barrel.” According Special Provision No. 6 for the utilization of PDAF in the 2012 GAA, “Realignment under [the PDAF] may only be allowed once.” Fund realignment is the act of transferring the budget allocated for an approved item in a project to another item. “Limiting the number of fund realignments will allow project implementation to proceed faster, since the realignments themselves cause delays and prevent agencies from delivering critical public services in a timely fashion. When Congress approved this rule in the GAA last year, we took that as an expression of their commitment to our principle of transparency and accountability, especially in the use of public funds,” Abad said. He added that the DBM’s role is to ensure the speed and efficiency of PDAF releases, as well as verify whether projects with PDAF allocations are within the menu approved by Congress. Abad also dismissed fears that the Administration will use the PDAF as a tool to manipulate Opposition lawmakers. “The Aquino Administration will not make it difficult for members of the Opposition to make use of their respective PDAFs. In the end, we aren’t just concerned about the proper and effective use of funds. We also need to ensure that the benefits from our services are indeed being felt by all Filipinos in a direct, immediate, and sustainable way,” Abad said.
Posted on: Thu, 26 Sep 2013 02:45:59 +0000
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