By Ali G. Macabalang Published: August 29, 2013 COTABATO CITY – Anything linked to pork is haram or forbidden in Islam, but elected executives in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) have expressed opposition to popular calls for abolition of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), more known as “pork” subsidy. Elected Muslim leaders led by ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman, a former three-term party list representative, asserted that abolishing PDAF would not solve corruption and that the fund can instead be restructured with “safety nets” because it augments subsidies in the impoverished autonomous region. Hataman believed that scrapping the fund would only worsen poverty in ARMM, which covers the poor provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu said PDAF subsidies should focus on gray areas of community development such as education, which his office has been addressing alone sans any counterpart from allotments coursed through congressmen. So far, he said, past PDAFs had helped link up his province to the global internet network. The governor is elder brother of Maguindanao (2nd District) neophyte Rep. Sajid Manguadatu, who had pledged in the last election campaign to “spend every penny” of the PDF to priority projects including infrastructure and education development initiatives. Lanao del Sur Governor Mamintal Alonto-Adiong Jr. expressed similar sentiment, saying PDAF has been effectively complementing development efforts in his province. One thing he objected is the use of term “pork,” suggesting its replacement by a tag inclusive to all religions. Gov. Adiong is son of the late undefeated Lanao del Sur Governor and former three-term Rep. Mamintal Adiong Sr. and is elder brother of former acting ARMM Governor Ansaruddin, now a neophyte Congressman of the province’s first district. Earlier, elected officials of PDAF-beneficiary-communities in Sulu and Tawi-Tawi were reported as expressing concern against compounded “deprivation” in their villages if the widely reviled fund is scrapped. Both provinces now have two neophyte Congressional representatives. For her part, North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza, a former three-term member of the House of Representative, expressed neutral stand. She said Congress should “listen” to the call of anti-PDAF protesters, adding though that any group or individuals involved in the misuse of the “accommodation” fund should be dealt with in “due process.” North Cotabato (2nd District) Rep. Nancy Catamco, meanwhile, explained that a P13-million portion of her PDAF allocation had not been spent due to disagreements in its implementation for reforestation. Local militant groups claimed that P9-milion of Catamaco’s PDFA had been downloaded to the Philippine Forestry Inc., a foundation they suspected to be inexistent or associated with her.
Posted on: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 13:17:26 +0000
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