WHERE’S the pork?

Membersof the House Minority group are  complaining over the delayed release of the Priority Development Assistance Fund.

In a press conference, Davao del Sur Rep. Marc Douglas Cagas said that until now they have not  received their PDAF, supposed to be intended for soft projects such as scholarship and medical assistance.

Cagas also said that some of them, especially those in the opposition, have not yet received even their 2010 pork. He added that even those in the majority group did not get their pork.

“Hanggang ngayon wala pa yung PDAF. Sa mga panahong ito na bumabagyo, ang PDAF ang pwede lang magamit sa pambili ng bigas at iba pang relief. Enrolment na din ng mga scholars natin, yun lang ang inaasahan,” Cagas said.

He said during the previous administration, portions of PDAF were released before the session break to finance the lawmakers’soft projects.

He said that they have long submitted to Malacañang their line projects for their constituents.

“I brought this out because I thought that regardless of partisanship and stand on issues, yung PDAF natin mare-release,” the solon said.

Minority Leader Edcel Lagman said the Aquino administration is trying to project that it has a lot of savings and minimize the budget deficit that is why it is delaying the PDAF release.

Aside from the lawmakers, even the national agencies are complaining of the delayed release of budget for their projects.

“These amounts were not released as part of window-dressing to show that we have minimized the fiscal deficit,” Lagman said.

He lamented that despite the on-time approval of the appropriations by Congress, the administration is delaying the PDAF release.