Chiz challenges
colleagues to open PDAF use to public scrutiny
By Office of Senator Chiz
Escudero
October 2, 2013
PASAY CITY – Senator
Chiz Escudero said the disbursement and use of the Priority
Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) by legislators should be open to
public scrutiny to ensure transparency and accountability.
Escudero issued the call to
his fellow lawmakers to open their books to the Filipino people amid
the reported misuse and abuse of the PDAF, which was originally
intended to finance the pet projects of senators and congressmen.
A recent special report by
the Commission on Audit (COA) and revelations at the ongoing
investigation by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee initially showed
that some lawmakers have allegedly connived with bogus non-government
organizations to pocket kickbacks through ghost projects.
“Whether it’s PDAF, pork
barrel or DAP (Disbursement Acceleration Program) is immaterial. The
important issues here are transparency and accountability. At the end
of the day, as public officials entrusted with public funds, we should
be able to explain to the public how these were disbursed and used,”
said Escudero, who chairs the Senate Committee on Finance.
According to Escudero, how
each lawmaker allocated and used every single centavo earmarked for
the PDAF should be made public and accessible to all stakeholders for
scrutiny in the spirit of transparency and accountability.
“This is a challenge to my
fellow legislators: reveal how you spent public funds. We owe it to
our constituents, we owe it to our taxpayers,” he said.
Since Escudero started
availing of the special budget for legislators’ pet projects in 2010,
he has posted on his website (www.chizescudero.com) the detailed
allocation of his PDAF to local government units (LGUs) across the
country. The senator did not receive any PDAF during the Arroyo
administration.
He said all the allocations
he received under the PDAF had been properly accounted for and open to
scrutiny by COA and the public. “All releases and disbursements to
LGUs which had sought my assistance were transparent and verifiable.
These can be scrutinized by COA and the public anytime.”
Escudero also sought to
clarify the “confusion” surrounding the P96 million (not P99 million
as earlier reported) he had requested the Department of Budget and
Management to download to local LGUs to finance their requests for
repairs of specialty hospitals and construction of public markets.
The whole P96 million
released by the DBM through its DAP covered the project funding
requests that went directly to LGUs in the cities and municipalities
of Batangas, Laguna, Quezon, Cavite, Rizal, Ilocos Norte and
Pangasinan, among others, mostly for infrastructure projects and
medical help.
Majority of the LGUs
received P500,000 each for the construction and rehabilitation of
their public markets.
Since the senator started
using his PDAF in 2010, he had only funded infrastructure projects and
medical assistance through various LGUs, as well as improvement of
regional and specialty hospitals.