ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews / 18 December) – “We did not equate pork with corruption,” the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) said in a letter to Zamboanga del Norte Congressional Representative Adrian Michael Amatong on December 1, a copy of which he gave to MindaNews on December 17.
“On calling it ‘pork,’ we were guided by the Supreme Court’s definition of the general concept of pork barrel as “an appropriation of government spending meant for localized projects and secured solely or primarily to bring money to a representative’s district,” the PCIJ said.
The letter of PCIJ was signed by Guinevere Latoza as the writer of the article, and noted by Sheila Coronel, chair of the Board of Editors of PCIJ.
Amatong had written PCIJ noting that since the November 29 publication of the article titled, ‘Allocables’ are the new pork and Sandro Marcos and Martin Romualdez are the pork barrel kings by Guinevere Latoza, “I have been on the receiving end of attacks from people who now use the PCIJ article to malign me. I do not have the machinery to counter the impression created by national publications. This is why I am consenting to this interview because I believe in accountability, fairness, and the importance of responsible investigative journalism.”
MindaNews interviewed Amatong on December 16. He did not reply when asked if PCIJ had replied to his letter. But on December 17, he sent MindaNews a copy of PCIJ’s December 1 response to him.
The PCIJ said the allocable figures it published were “based on two documents originating from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and confirmed by former and current lawmakers.”
The computation was also based on former DPWH secretary Manuel Bonoan’s statement that the allocable amount per legislative district was “already agreed upon and adopted in the formulation” of the DPWH budget from 2023 onwards.
The PCIJ list based on DPWH records show the “allocable” for the representatives per year and how much for 2023 to 2025. According to the list, Amatong’s allocable per year is P3,069,505,000 and for 2023 to 2025, P9,238,515,000.
The PCIJ likewise asserted that it is clear in the story “that it is not the district representative who determines the budget ceiling, but rather the executive. This is stated in the fifth paragraph of the article’s first subtopic and supported by the parametric formula booklet of DPWH we publicized.”
In the December 16 interview, Amatong said the allocation listed “should not be read by the people as the amount that personally went to the congressman” as the PCIJ had said in its story.
It then referred to a statement by former public works Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo who had testified in a November 14 Senate hearing that “the allocable is the budget ‘apportioned’ to each district congressman’s legislative district. He eventually said that the DPWH’s old term for it is ‘pork barrel.’ And more recently, Senator Panfilo Lacson labelled it as the ‘new pork barrel’ because ‘it allows items to be funded before they are identified.'”
A number of congressmen had told PCIJ that they have had a say on what projects can be funded through their allocables, which fulfill the discretionary component of pork barrel.
It then argued that Bernardo has also “repeatedly stated in his sworn affidavits that lawmakers largely influence which projects are funded through the budget, including those under the allocables.”
Amatong said he was “reacting to my inclusion” but “I’m not saying that applies to all because it might be different for some.” (Frencie L. Carreon, MindaNews)
