Fallen from grace?
From being a honey pot for lawmakers’ pork barrel allocations in previous years, the Department of Agriculture saw its Priority Development Assistance Funds or “pork barrel” allotment slashed by a 62.61 percent last year compared to what it received in 2011, figures from the Commission on Audit showed.
According to the 2012 Annual Financial Report (AFR) on national government agencies released by COA last October 16, PDAF funneled through DA in 2012 amounted to P232.03 million which was less than half of P620.59 million pork funds it received the year before.
The P388.56 million difference was the single biggest drop among all government agencies in the past year.
The DA became the center of media attention this year after it was revealed that it was being used as a conduit of fake non-government organizations linked to Janet Lim-Napoles.
In terms of percentage drop however, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources got it worse after not receiving any PDAF last year compared to P13.73 million in 2011.
The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) also got snubbed after getting only P5 million last year – down by 83.61 percent from P30.50 million a year ago.
The Department of Finance likewise fell out of favor among lawmakers in 2012 getting only P429.66 million against P716.48 million in 2011 for a P286.82 million cut.
Legislators’ lofty promises of support for higher education was not matched by action as PDAF allocations to state universities and colleges (SUCs) also fell from P516.02 million in 2011 to P441.72 million – a P74.30 million decline.
This even if pork funds channeled through the Department of Education did increase, albeit very slightly, from P63.14 million to P90.72 million year on year.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) maintained its place at the top of the heap for two consecutive years with P11.352 billion pork funds in 2011 and P12.17 billion in 2012.
“The DPWH got the highest share with P12.17 billion used primarily for ‘hard projects’ such as construction, repair and rehabilitation of priority public infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, floor control facilities, water supply systems, school buildings and other educational facilities, hospitals and other health facilities, public markets and multi-purpose buildings,” COA said.
The Department of Budget and Management wound up at second place with control over P5.414 billion PDAF in 2011 and P5.955 billion in 2012.
In contrast to DA, PDAF allotments to the Department of Social Welfare and Development went up from P681.45 million in 2011 to P907.28 million last year or an increase of 33.14 percent or P225.83 million.
DA’s loss proved to be bounty for “Other Executive Offices” which received P756.39 million in 2012 or an eye-popping 133.25 percent climb from P324.28 million in 2011. The COA report however did not provide a breakdown of recipient agencies under this category.
The Department of Health saw a small uptick with P435.77 million last year compared to 2011’s P390.37 million.
The same thing happened to the Labor department which got P269.95 million for 2012 from P243.36 million in 2011.
For the Department of Energy, lawmakers allotted P34.5 million in 2012 from zero the previous year.
Rounding up the list were the Department of Interior and Local Government with P32.74 million in 2012 from P35.61 million in 2011; and the Department of Trade and Industry with P13.92 million last year and P21.75 million in 2011.
The total PDAF allocations for 2012 reached P21.77 billion.
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