senators usa!
I have not accessed COA records, but from an article bylined by Mr. Jarius Bondoc,
here is a view of what is the take over at the Senate.
One valid justification to go for a Parliamentary form of gov't, meaning without a Senate !!!============================================
Expect no new senator to deplore secret pay
GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
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Ten of 12 new and returning senators will be affirmed today: Loren Legarda, Chiz Escudero, Ping Lacson, Manny Villar, Kiko Pangilinan, Noynoy Aquino, Ed Angara, Alan Peter Cayetano, Joker Arroyo, Gringo Honasan.
Given their media advertising exposure, it is safe to say they each spent at least P9 million for the 90-day campaign. Same with any of the four stragglers for the last two seats: Antonio Trillanes, Koko Pimentel, Migs Zubiri and Butch Pichay.
An audit of all ad contracts by candidates and parties would prove the amount. Any filing of official expenses less than P9 million would be unbelievable.
And given that figure, the question arises — again: how will they recover their capital outlay on the campaign from a salary of only P35,000 a month, or P2,520,000 for their six-year term?
No one has dared answer this question before. Silent have been the 12 remaining senators: Mar Roxas, Bong Revilla, Nene Pimentel, Jamby Madrigal, Dick Gordon, Pia Cayetano, Miriam Santiago, Fred Lim, Johnny Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, Lito Lapid, Rodolfo Biazon.
To Santiago’s credit, she has revealed the secret incomes of senators. These are:
• P2 million a month, no audit, for staff salaries, office rent, utilities, domestic travel, and sundries;
• P760,000 a month for foreign travel, whether or not the senator travels; and
• P1.5 million a month, still no audit, for expenses in each committee chairmanship, and they usually have two each, to make P3 million.
As exposed by a STAR reader who had worked as “project manager†for eight senators, that first item is subject to abuse. The senator may not fill up a full staff, but still draw the entire amount. Or s/he may put her/his entire household staff on the Senate (read taxpayers’) payroll. Local travel and sundry expenses easily can be padded. The senator simply fabricates receipts but then uses Air Force helicopters to commute, and also inserts home needs for laundry bars and bath soap as official expenses. Worse, the senator may acquire condos as “extension officesâ€, and have the Senate, er taxpayers, pay the monthly rent-to-own amortization.
Equally abused is the foreign travel allowance, because also exempt from audit. Through the years since Congress’ restoration in 1987, the senators — and congressmen — have managed to cow the audit commission from performing its constitutional duty.
The last item too is abused. Senators simply pocket the chairmanship allowances and have their staffs do the committee work. In the case of some standing committees, the Senate maintains separate staffs.
So that’s how senators are able to recover their campaign expenses. They get a total of P5,760,000 a month, or P414.72 million in six years.
And that’s not all. There’s the P200-million annual pork barrel, from which the STAR reader says a senator can draw 50-percent kickback. That’s P1.2-billion pork barrel in six years, from which P600 million can be filched to make a P9-million senatorial run well worth it.
On top of equal pork barrel allocations are congressional insertions for favored one, that is, Senate officers and heads of powerful committees. These may range from P5 million to P500 million, from which 50-percent kickbacks may again be derived.
And on top of the congressional insertions are funds doled out by, or extorted from, lobbyists. These come in various amounts and disguises, from a new luxury SUV to all-expense-paid foreign travel to fat monthly consultancy retainers for the senator’s spouse. It all depends on the value of the franchise or favorable legislation being sought.
Some senators do not take bribes or congressional insertions or pork barrels. That’s small consolation if they also do not denounce the enormous allowances they all partake of. In fact, the 12 new and returning senators who campaigned on platforms against graft and abuse expectedly will not talk of the secret incomes they will soon enjoy. That’s what happened to the remaining 12, remember?
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Topic: Costly Congressmen !!! (Read 4306 times)