Mr. Aquino said his decision, announced on Friday, abolishing the PDAF was “part of continuously finding and forming a mechanism that ensures that the people’s money can only be used for the people.â€
Earlier, the BusinessMirror reported Palace Deputy Spokesman Abigail Valte as saying there was “no need†to come up with another name for the pork-barrel system that would replace the PDAF that the President abolished last week.
“As Secretary Abad said, there is no need for a name as additional funding support identified by legislators [for projects in their bailiwicks] will be made part of the national government project,†Valte said.
She explained, for instance, that funding for scholarships would be placed under the existing scholarship programs of the Commission on Higher Education.
Valte also dismissed the clamor to scrap all pork barrels amid criticisms the Palace abolition of the congressional PDAF was “selective†and did not cover presidential pork-barrel allocations.
“There is no such thing as a presidential pork barrel, as some groups insist to distort the issue,†the Palace official said. “All Special Purpose Funds under the Executive, such as the Calamity Fund, Contingent Fund and others have very clear purposes.â€
Moreover, she added that stricter measures have been put in place since the President assumed office in June 2010 “to make sure the aforementioned funds go to its intended purpose.â€
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