Portion of the national budget is for the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) given to the members of the congress. It is collectively labeled as the pork barrel, same as literal pork barrel which is a container storing pig meat in brine. The expression alludes to the fatness of pork and is equated with the political largesse in American politics since the 1800s. It persists in reference to political bills that bring home the bacon to a legislator’s district and constituents.
The Priority Development Assistance Fund is a lump-sum appropriation in the annual General Appropriations Act to fund the priority development programs and projects of the government.
According to news today, there will be more pork barrel funds for the congressmen under the proposed national budget for the coming year.
The amount to be given to each congressman is almost doubled. Not just that, they will also be given a share of the tax collected from the owners of private and public vehicles.
I cannot understand why such action is being taken by the new administration in its very first national budget. Lawmakers have protested and are questioning the proposed budget. Is this the price they are willing to pay to ensure its smooth approval?
Adding the budget to PDAFs of congressmen is just like adding money on their pockets. It’s hypocrisy of they will say it’s for the projects of these men aiming for the development of their constituents and to make basic services more accessible to many.
Let’s not be in denial of the fact, if not all, almost all men in position practice corruption. It may not be as big as we can imagine, but still they do it. It may be as simple as pocketing a single peso, still it is corruption.
We should always remember; small things lead to big things.
If this budget change is a part of "devolution" of power and tasks to local authorities - that can be a great thing. Overall, local people will know best how to spend money. That reasoning is present in many Western countries. For instance, delegating power, tasks and money to regional and local bodies from the central government was a huge contributing factor to Poland's development. It also leads to increase in efficiency of public funds usage and builds a sense of local/regional identification and pride. People are likely to exhibit more interest and provide more support and understanding for the local projects. That's also a crucial mechanism in building democracy. However, corruption is the obvious risk - here it's important to create a system of checks that will increase public officers' accountability on the local level. In fact this is much easier than introducing transparency at the central level simply because it's more difficult to do scams at home and then face your neighbours. In Poland corruption on local level was a big problem. It took time to build the system of checks and teach people how to use them. But the system is already working and that's one of the greatest achievements of last two decades! So what you're saying is not bad news at all. Give them a chance and time.
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