FAQs: Ed Cabanlas on the Pork Barrel Fund Issue

Question: How would you appropriate your "pork barrel" fund in such a way that it is spent with transparrency?

Answer: Crowing to high heavens the supposedly above-board use of the pork barrel fund is merely pure rhetorics, lacking fundamental means upon which the public money is spent credibly.

Essentially, utmost transparency in dispensing the Priority Development Assistance Fund or "pork barrel fund" can ONLY be realized through the participation of five sectors: business, NGOs, the academe, government, and the religious sector. We have to understand that when officials enjoy more discretion, they have greater opportunities to demand bribes.

If given the chance by the electorate to serve, I shall appropriate my pork barrel funds to the priority programs enumerated in my platforms of government, with the full participation of these five sectors.

Now that sounds easier said than done. How would I go about it?

First, these five sectors must be empowered to review procurement procedures--as it is a fact that maintaining an ambiguous system of procurement remains an avenue for corruption to flourish.

Second, these sectors will be given full access to monitor services or goods procured by the Congressional Office or the appropriate government agencies.

Through this system, these five sectors can look closely at the type of projects I am implementing, the contractors doing the project, the beneficiaries--most importantly---and the actual project accomplishments.

In my 18 years of being a legislator, I must say that empowering our people to monitor the use of public funds is a key step to deter corruption and pave way for the prosecution of the corrupt.