Hindi pa man ay humihingi na ang mga kagalang-galang na Kongresista ng karagdagang pera para sa kanilang pork barrel ng 2010. Ayon kay committe chairman Rep. Junie Cua ng Quirino ay mahalaga raw ito para sa pagpapasigla ng ekonomya ng susunod na pamahalaan. Siya nga pala, tatakbo din na kinatawan ng kanilang distrito sa Pampanga si Ginang Arroyo. Kapag nanalo ay tiyak na makikinaban din siya dito di ba?

Kayo na bayan ang humatol kung talaga bang kailangang dagdagan ang pork barrel na ating mga kongresista para na rin sa kapakanan ng kanilang mga distrito at lalawigan. Feel ho ba ninyo ang mga biyaya mula sa pork barrel ng inyong mga kongresistan. Itaas lang ang kamay ang hindi, hehehe.

Ito nga pala ang news na nahatak ko mula sa http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/12/15/09/lawmakers-want-bigger-pork-barrel-2010 na sinulat pa ni Carmela Fonbuena.

Lawmakers want bigger pork barrel in 2010

MANILA, Philippines – Lawmakers want to increase their pork barrel in the 2010 budget, according to House appropriations committee chairman Quirino Rep. Junie Cua.

Under Malacañang’s P1.541 trillion proposed budget, the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), or pork barrel, was slashed by P2.725 billion–from P9.666 billion in the 2009 approved budget to P6.940 billion in the 2010 proposed budget.

Cua said there is a “clamor” among lawmakers to “restore individual allotments” to 2009 levels. In the 2009 budget, senators and congressmen were each entitled to P200 million and P70 million of pork barrel respectively.

Restoring their individual allotments means the budget for pork may be higher than P9.6 billion because of a new Supreme Court ruling adding 32 party-list representatives in the House of Representatives.

“Certainly, this is something members would welcome especially now. We have to get the consensus. We decide based on majority. We understand the need, but we still have to balance it with what is appropriated,” Cua told House reporters on Tuesday after the first bicameral meeting between the Senate and the House of Representatives on the 2010 budget.

Lawmakers are basically trying to repeat what they did to the 2009 budget. Malacañang’s original proposal for PDAF was only around P6 billion. They increased it after the bicameral conference.

Cua said the pork barrel is important to sustain pump-priming activities of the next government. More importantly, 2009 is also an election year.

Time for insertions

Congress held Tuesday morning its first bicameral conference meeting on the 2010 budget. The bicameral conference committee is where lawmakers insert final amendments to the budget.

“We had an agreement that we will organize a small group to take care of reconciling the disagreeing provisions of the House and the Senate versions. It was also agreed that we will try to finish this before we break. That means within the week we will ratify it,” Cua said.

Cua said it’s “highly likely” Congress will ratify the budget before Congress adjourns for the holidays because senators began consultations with them during the break.

“Yes we have been in constant consultation. Even if we have not transmitted the budget to them, they wanted to have lead time. They made consultations and briefing. We don’t want a reenacted budget. We feel this is important especially at this stage of our economic development,” Cua added.

Cua said he is also confident that once they transmit the budget to Malacañang, President Arroyo will immediately sign it into law. The President has 30 days to act on the budget.

“We believe because of the urgency of this measure, the president may decide to sign it into law even before the 30th day. Early passage of this measure will allow government to pump prime the economy that will allow the government to sustain the momentum,” Cua said.

ARMM and Judiciary

Other contentious items in the budget are the allocations for the judiciary and the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Malacañang cut the budget of the judiciary from P13.3 billion in 2009 to P13 billion in 2010.

In light of the massacre in Maguindanao, senators also proposed to slash the budget of the ARMM by P1 billion. But Cua said there’s a proposal from a congressmen coming from the region to restore it.

“The proposal is actually for good reason,” Cua said

Palagay ko kung pera na ang pinag-uusapan sa kongreso ay walang kongresistang gustong umabsent diyan. Sayang naman ang pagkakataon na maipagtanggol ang kanilang bulsa interes ng kanilang mga distrito.

Manang Gloria our neighbor is a very skillful business woman, she can sell almost anything without leaving her home. By just ringing the phone she could easily close a deal with any prospective costumer. Nobody could turn down her offer, she always have a way of getting yes from the customer which include things like (would you believe) doing a free laundry and cooking for you if you buy laundry and kitchen products from her. Aling Gloria has perfected this simple marketing strategy over the years.

Similarly another ate Glow has perfected a political marketing strategy also since the time she has set on her foot in Malacanang. After the “Hello Garci” scandal she was able to sell her innocence to the majority of Congressmen to avoid impeachment not only once. She always have special offers like pork barrel and as claimed by her critics pocket-money and free travel abroad including a dinner in the most expensive resturants in New York. Ate Glow evaded forced eviction from Malacanang and her family have been spared from criminal charges of corruption, thanks to her marketing skills.

And this time she is tasked again to sell a not-so-popular brand of presidentiable named as Gibo. Among the other product Gibo is tailing behind the popular “horses” in the race. But with the recent development in Maguindanao where some 57 people (mostly journalists) were massacred by a group of heavily armed men supposedly connected to the Ampatuans. Gibo’s popularity rating improved when he personally went into the rescue of the Mangudadatu clan and expelled the Ampatuans from the Palaka (Partidong Lakas-Kampi-CMD) which the clan protested as unacceptable after all the favor they have done to her excellency and making her and her candidates win a landslide during the previous elections in Maguindanao.

As the public outcry (particularly from the journalists) are mounting everyday calling for the prosecution of the perpetrators (specially those who masterminded) in the brutal killings of innocent people and journalists, the president declared martial law yesterday Maguindanao to avert rebellion and to restore peace in the area. Again ate Glows salesmen are busy pedling on the importance of declaring martial law in Maguindanao which she did not do when the MILF led by a certain commander Umbra Kato went on rampage killing innocent civilians due to the scrapping of the  GRP-MILF MOA on Ancestral Domain.

But ate Glow is right away refused by FVR  who said declaration of martial law in Maguindanao was an overreaction and a manifestation of government’s incompetence. University of the Philippines law professor and human rights lawyer Harry Roque does not buy it saying  the declaration of martial law and suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in Maguindanao is without clear basis which is also seconded in similar view by Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo (under the Constitution, only in cases of invasion or rebellion can the president (Arroyo) declare martial law or suspend the writ of habeas corpus. Gabriela Party-list representative Liza Maza  abhors the product (Martial Law in Maguindanao) as  “gravely abusing her authority.” On the other hand Akbayan Party-list representative Risa Hontiveros said that declaration of Martial Law only proves that the National Government is powerless over warlordism. Both civil society groups and the left leaning groups believe that Martial Law will always lead to the abuses of the civilians by the military and police.

If the public does not buy the declaration of Martial Law, who will? Of  course ate Glow is not running out of customers. There is the Congress led by Speaker Nograles who buy the declaration of martial law in Maguindanao. ”As a Mindanaoan, my personal opinion is, for a limited period of 60 days, I will support it (martial law) so that the prosecution arm of the government can move freely and get the witnesses and gather evidence without fear,”Nograles said.

As embodied in the new constitution President Arroyo must submit a report to Congress on her declaration of martial law and on the situation in Maguindanao within 48 hours. Congress then will assess her report and decide whether to revoke or not the declaration. However House Speaker Nograles said that if a joint session in Congress shall take  up martial law the “ball is in the court of the House” since they can outvote the Senate” 268 Congressmen against 23 senators. There you go, ate Glow’s martial law will always be supported/sustained by the Lower House.

Kuya Eddie Ermita said, in justification for the ate Glow proclamation of martial law, that  “heavily armed groups in the province of Maguindanao have established positions to resist government troops, thereby depriving the executive of its powers and prerogatives to enforce the laws of the land and to maintain public order and safety.” Many wonder, despite the large volume of arms and ammunition found and confiscated by the government, there are still heavily armed groups in the province trying to disrupt law and order (but not rebellion?) in Maguindanao.

It is unfortunate that this massacre in Maguindanao took place giving the reason for the president to proclaim martial law (to enforce law and order) not to a situation of rebellion but a plain police protection work and law enforcement function against warlordism in the area.  But the president has another business to deal the dismantling of all private armies in the entire country. One can not help but think, if the president will be successful in getting rid of warlordism in Maguindanao by proclaiming martial law, nothing can prevent it from proclaiming it too to all the provinces with reported  presence of private armies.

Under the pretext of law and order and the protection of State’s interest the president may just declare martial law to a large part of the country and justify it as trying to prevent rebellion by running after the politicians private armies, will the public buy it?

By the way who will probably profit most in the declaration of martial law to most of the provinces and cities in the country with large concentration of armed groups, if not Gibo Teodoro then who?