About pork

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER Busines Editor CEDELF P. TUPAS Sports Editor (On Leave) RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

Rep. Edcel Lagman, chairman of the House committee on appropriations, naturally rejected former senate president Franklin Drilon's call for the members of Congress to waive their “pork barrel”. The staunch defender of the pork barrel said that it was needed by their constituents, claiming that if congressmen were to be deprived of it, children in far-flung barangays would not be able to go to school because nobody would build bridges for them, that more indigent patients would not get free medical assistance, and more students would be deprived of scholarships, that more rural folk will be denied livelihood support, and that more of our poor will have to live without potable water and electricity, and even employment.

In short, if our Congressmen, who were voted into office as legislators, do not get their share of pork, this country will go down in flames.

Because we have long allowed them to partake of a substantial amount of the people's money to use in any which way they please, our Congressmen have started to assume that the pork barrel is not a privilege (an excessive one at that), but a right. They have forgotten that they belong to the legislative branch of the government, and that their primary responsibility is representing the interests of their constituents in the crafting of laws. Building bridges in far-flung barangays, medical assistance for indigent patients, scholarships, potable water, electricity, and employment is not the job of a Congressman. If any congressman prefers to do either of the above instead of making laws, he is in the wrong place and should have either joined the DPWH, or ran for governor or mayor.

While it does have its advantages and maybe even a noble purpose, the mere existence of the pork barrel points to a sickness in the system of governance is this country. Its being famous for corruption is just the most obvious symptom. But for legislators to need such a large amount of the people's money so they can do the things that government agencies and local executives are supposed to be doing, there must be something terribly wrong with the current system.

Unfortunately for us, that system looks like it is here to stay.*