PDAF SCANDAL
PRIORITY DEVELOPMENT ASSISSTANCE FUND (PDAF)
By: PEREZ, Chrysalyka C.
I. INTRODUCTION
PDAF or Priority Development Assistance Fund is a form of pork barrel which has been a very controversial issue in our country today. These are funds given or allocated to government officials in order to support and be spent on community projects and/or repairs and improvements. G. Luis Igaya of Institute for Popular Democracy defined pork barrel as “a practice of the Congress to divert national funds into their districts whether it be in the form of public works (such as highways or bridges), social services (such as education funds or public school buildings), or special projects (like livelihood programs or community development projects). The pork barrel was first discovered, practiced and introduced to the Philippines in 1922 by the United States. The pork barrel system, however, was regarded by opponents as purely for political purposes. In the Philippines, it was first legitimized under Public Works Act 3044. It was further developed through the Public works act, which was intended to fund community projects: (1) miscellaneous community projects for congressmen; and (2) nationwide selected projects for senators. After 3 years though, Juan Sumulong said before the Congress there was a misuse of public funds in the form of pork barrel appropriations. And in 1950, the pork barrel system was stopped due to the unusual release of lump sums even though there were no projects proposed to be done. During the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos, a new system somehow like the pork barrel system was introduced. It was called the National Aid to Local Government Units (NALGUs), under it was the Support for Local Development Projects (SLDP) which was used to support public works projects and soft projects (such as funds for medicines and agricultural needs). Every projects planned to be done had
By: PEREZ, Chrysalyka C.
I. INTRODUCTION
PDAF or Priority Development Assistance Fund is a form of pork barrel which has been a very controversial issue in our country today. These are funds given or allocated to government officials in order to support and be spent on community projects and/or repairs and improvements. G. Luis Igaya of Institute for Popular Democracy defined pork barrel as “a practice of the Congress to divert national funds into their districts whether it be in the form of public works (such as highways or bridges), social services (such as education funds or public school buildings), or special projects (like livelihood programs or community development projects). The pork barrel was first discovered, practiced and introduced to the Philippines in 1922 by the United States. The pork barrel system, however, was regarded by opponents as purely for political purposes. In the Philippines, it was first legitimized under Public Works Act 3044. It was further developed through the Public works act, which was intended to fund community projects: (1) miscellaneous community projects for congressmen; and (2) nationwide selected projects for senators. After 3 years though, Juan Sumulong said before the Congress there was a misuse of public funds in the form of pork barrel appropriations. And in 1950, the pork barrel system was stopped due to the unusual release of lump sums even though there were no projects proposed to be done. During the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos, a new system somehow like the pork barrel system was introduced. It was called the National Aid to Local Government Units (NALGUs), under it was the Support for Local Development Projects (SLDP) which was used to support public works projects and soft projects (such as funds for medicines and agricultural needs). Every projects planned to be done had
References: Gamala, R. (2014, January 24). Evolution of the Pork Barrel System in the Philippines. UP Forum. http://www.spot.ph/newsfeatures/54069/hot-on-spot-who-the-hell-is-janet-lim-napoles