this has been going around facebook since yesterday, so far reposted 633 times and counting. a call for a major major march vs. the pork barrel on aug 26, monday, a holiday commemorating the start of the 1896 revolution.
This is a REPOST from Ito Rapadas
Please repost kung mamartsa kayo. Salamat at mabuhay ang mga tunay na Pilipino!
sounds good. government needs to get the message that we’re angry, we’re fed up, we want an end to the pork barrel system. a million or more marching would grab their attention. but for a stronger, more emphatic, delivery of the message, let’s not march to luneta, which is a dead end. let’s march to EDSA instead, on a workday, just because we want traffic, lives, schedules disrupted, we want people to stop and ask, what’s going on, and to see why this is every pinoy’s and pinay’s fight for responsible spending by government. we want media spreading the word, we want as many people as possible, from gated villages to the grass roots — across classes, across ages, across genders, across ideologies, across seas — discussing the pork barrel, and expressing soldiarity with the million marchers.
but we cannot, we should not, stop there. do we want an investigation, i.e., televised public hearings? do we want to know what senators and reps have been really spending their pork barrel funds on in the last two years, and how much goes back to them in the form of commissions / kickbacks? if found guilty, do we want them punished, ousted? do we want them to give the money back? YES to all of the above, i would think? but all these should be very clearly articulated, because if we leave it up to government to act on the issue, their lawyers will plead due process, i.e., innocent until proven guilty in a proper court, while the senators and congressmen will just get creative and start calling the PDAF by another name / other names, with the complicity of the palace, of course, and tuloytuloy lang ang ligaya.
what if we make DEMANDS such as these:
1. THAT CONGRESS FREEZE ALL SPENDING OF PORK BARREL FUNDS;
2. THAT THE PALACE FREEZE ALL SPENDING OF “SPECIAL FUNDS” OF WHICH THE PDAF IS BUT A SMALL PART;
3. THAT THE PRESIDENT ISSUE AN EXECUTIVE ORDER CREATING A TRUTH & CONSEQUENCE COMMISSION WITH SUBPOENA POWERS THAT WILL INVESTIGATE THE COMPLICITY OF SENATORS AND CONGRESSMEN WITH NGOS AND CONTRACTORS, AND HOW MUCH GOES BACK TO SENATORS AND REPS IN COMMISSIONS/KICKBACKS;
4. THAT THE TRUTH & CONSEQUENCE COMMISSION BE COMPOSED OF MULTICOLOR MULTISECTORAL STALWARTS OF CIVIL SOCIETY, YUNG PRO-PEOPLE NA MERONG CREDIBILITY, SUCH AS: CHRISTIAN MONSOD, RENE SAGUISAG, MELINDA QUINTOS DE JESUS, HEBER BARTOLOME, RANDY DAVID, LEONOR BRIONES, CONRADO DE QUIROS, LENI ROBREDO, SATUR OCAMPO;
5. THAT THERE BE TWO MONTHS OF DAILY TELEVISED PUBLIC HEARINGS, SIX DAYS A WEEK, TO DETERMINE WHO HAVE ENRICHED THEMSELVES ON PORK BARREL FUNDS, AND DESERVE TO BE PUNISHED AND/OR PENALIZED. TWO MONTHS, THREE MONTHS TOPS. WE WANT THIS RESOLVED BY CHRISTMAS: PAMASKO SA BAYAN.
6. THAT SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES WHO ARE FOUND GUILTY OF ENRICHING THEMSELVES ON PORK BARREL FUNDS A) BE REMOVED FROM OFFICE? B) SUSPENDED LANG? FOR HOW LONG? WITHOUT PAY? A POSSIBLE EXCEPTION FOR SENATORS / REPRESENTATIVES WHO MIGHT STEP UP AND VOLUNTEER INFORMATION THAT HELP, HASTEN, THE INVESTIGATIONS, A LA STATE WITNESSES, MAYBE ONE MONTH SUSPENSION LANG?
7. THAT STOLEN MONIES BE RETURNED, AND TURNED OVER TO BIR COMMISSIONER KIM HENARES FOR SAFEKEEPING UNTIL THE PRESIDENT IS PREPARED TO AUGMENT THE BUDGETS FOR HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND ENVIRONMENT, THE BETTER TO ADDRESS INCREASINGLY URGENT NEEDS NATIONWIDE.
and that’s my two cents. here’s hoping that serious plans are afoot to organize and unite behind this exciting advocacy, and to dare take the leap from social media to the parliament of the streets. mabuhay!
Mabuhay! at last this is happening! this is what we are waiting for… a protest. I thought we will just put this aside like any other corrupting by our public servants. We let them do it and do it because we are patient and loving people and no strenght and means to confront them because they have the face to tell us, they are the only son and daughter of God who are entitled to a good life or they don’t see us at all, they make believe they are the only people that live in this earth…or are we invisible to them because we don’t eat what they eat the PORK ! abolish the senate and the congress !
let’s march to EDSA instead, on a workday, just because we want traffic, lives, schedules disrupted, we want people to stop and ask, what’s going on, and to see why this is every pinoy’s and pinay’s fight for responsible spending by government.
Times have changed. 50 years ago information was not as readily available so you had to do take the above drastic measures to bring the bad news to the people to force them to think. Today, everybody knows what is happening. And so bringing public awareness through public disturbance is dated, much like snail mail. Rallies are now for those who decided they want to be part of whatever the rally is about so rallies are better held in places where those who care can go to express their outrage without bothering those who don’t give a shit. The presumption here is info is widely available and people can make up their own minds on issues unlike 50 years ago when the greater number of people had no direct access to mass media/social networks etc. Nasa capital tayo. One would have real difficulty staying ignorant these days. So rally in Luneta or some other place, preferably the Senate, and leave those who think shopping is the most important thing to do during holidays to go about their business. There is nothing more off-putting to ordinary people than to have to put up with noisy advocates/preachers of causes they don’t care about. People have changed. Let’s adapt to the change and plan mass actions accordingly.
umm,the masa who don’t read the papers or have internet don’t really get what the pork barrel issue is all about, at least the ones i’ve asked. some still think it’s a good thing, sabi ni congressman nila, dito nanggagaling yung pang-abuloy sa patay, pangmatricula ng iskolars, at kung anoano pang pangangailangan nila.
Exactly Angela. That is exactly what pork barrel is for the poor. Kaya nga I’m not too enthusiastic about this whole abolish pork thing ng basta basta na lang. Mahirap na may bangkay na naagnas na pero hindi mailibing dahil walang panglibing. Yun batang nangangailangan ng gamot at pati na yun pang matrikula, papaano sila? Mga tunay na problema yan at immediate. Maski nga yun magpatayo na lang ng covered walkway para dun sa mga temporary bus terminals, kailangan magawan kaagad. Anong ibibigay mong tulong sa kanila, yun ang gusto nilang malaman. Alanganin naman na ibigay mo sa kanila yung mga studies ng civil society watchgroups o yun COA audit. Mahirap tayong bayan. At hindi kayang sakupin ng NEP lahat ng contingencies. Kelangan ng panakip hanggang maisayos natin ang lahat para wala ng PDAF. Pero first things first. Yun pang libing, yun pang gamot, yung pang matrikula etc. hindi pwedeng maghintay yun ng GAA.
yung panglibing, pangmatrikula atbpng kind of tulong, hindi yan pang “development” at malamang kakarampot na bahagi ng PDAF ang nakalaan diyan. so fine, give them funds to draw from for stuff like that, properly recorded, but not for “development assistance” kuno.
Oo nga. Nandiyan na rin ako. But what I’m pointing out is paglapit nung tao dahil sa emergency yun pangangailangan niya (ang mahirap nahihiyang humingi ng tulong hanggang wala na talagang ibang magagawa. alam mo yan) at inabutan mo siya, wala na sa equation niya ang big issues like development or corruption etc. Happy siya na meron tulong nung nangailangan siya. Agree ako “give them funds to draw from for stuff like that, properly recorded,”.
then I hear again Manuel Buencamino writing another rubbish online–pretending to be saying something valuable, much so, intelligent. The surplus of his like is as good as the last perishable tomatoes produced by Monsanto companies–good from the outside, but terribly rotting inside.
Chakang Manuel,
I understand it hurts to be told that time has passed you by, that circumstances have changed. Smell the coffee, oh bright one.
Angie,
I agree to all these DEMANDS. I would like to suggest that Ex. Sen. Ping Lacson leads this commission as he is the only credible legislator who is against this pork barrel and has not touch his share.
okay, luneta it is, aug 26, but let us plan this march http://www.radikalchick.com/let-us-plan-this-march/
please share the link in facebook regarding this matter so I can share it too.. thank you
hi carina, it’s posted on my wall, scroll down, 10 hours ago
https://www.facebook.com/stuart.santiago
Taxpayers unite!
Taxpayers in every city and town and barangay should organize (and only taxpayers!)to actively participate in auditing publicly funded projects making sure that every tax penny is used properly and efficiently! heck the government should even back this if its serious to have a good government.
as taxpayers we should encourage fellow citizen to pay taxes but most importantly as taxpayers we should demand from our government that our taxes should be used properly!
only taxpayers… i hope by “only” you mean all of us anyway, including the poor from whom govt collects taxes rin via evat
COA has been issuing audit reports for years. Bakit ngayon lang nagising ang tao sa mga anomalia? Yun 2008 pa lang nagsabi na ang COA na may mga anomalia pero mukhang natutulog sa pancitan yun mga civil society at media watchdogs natin. Kinailangan pa ng Ben Hur Luy. Nga pala nung fertilizer scam hearings pa lang, lumabas na ang pangalan ni Napoles, pero hindi pinansin ng media.
Ngayon daw, ilalabas na ng mga implementing agencies ang mga PDAF projects sa kanilang websites. So ayan meron COA reports, meron websites. Pagnalusutan pa tayo eh wala na tayong ibang dapat sisihin.
good question, manuel. bakit ngayon lang. i think maybe because in gma’s time it was easier to blame her, command responsibility? these days, parang the high expectations of CHANGE via noynoy that have not materialized, people have started asking why, saan ba talaga ang problema, bakit walang development for the many in spite of all the spending, the huge budget, the huge debts incurred…
Oo nga. Matass na ang expectations ngayon.
Wan Luna
That’s what people like you should have been doing from day one. COA reports are public record. You can go to the district offices of government agencies and ask to see what they are doing with the money downloaded to them. Ang diyan lahat yan Nasasa taong bayan na kung magmamalasakit silang mambusisi.
Why Congress won’t act on call for pork scam probe … It is now clear that the reason why there is resistance to an investigation in Congress is because those who are involved are in power,” Colmenares said.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/468545/why-congress-wont-act-on-call-for-pork-scam-probe
“Light of Day” by De Quiros http://opinion.inquirer.net/59129/light-of-day
“The scourge of discrepant governance” by Randy David
http://opinion.inquirer.net/59069/the-scourge-of-discrepant-governance
“Why P-Noy stands by pork barrel” by Marichu Villanueva http://www.philstar.com/opinion/2013/08/19/1107151/why-p-noy-stands-pork-barrel
“Pork barrel state” by Alex Magno (i wouldn’t call almonte a visionary though) http://www.philstar.com/opinion/2013/08/20/1111011/pork-barrel-state
Marami pala involve sa PDAF scam! halos lahat ng politicians. I commented a long time ago on R. Robles blog during CJ Corona impeachment process I said; given a chance all of us will be tempted to take the money given the chance, because that is the most weakness of our people “magsamantala”. Everyone at the site responded to me angry. Maybe because I said corruption yata is “nananalatay na sa ating ugat or bloodstream” I related that I made an experiment (maybe wrong term) that my baby grew up to never take things that doesn’t belong to him even some lose change left from the table, till now. In the Philippines taking lose change from parents w/out permission is a petty offense. I attended a 2 weeks counseling of my nephew at the juvenile court Whidby Island Wa. for my sister while she was busy at work, my little nephew was caught shoplifting a bag of chocolate candy, that’s the reason I made sure young mind free from corruption. I always make sure they never take things that doesn’t belong to them.
Teka, your nephew was caught shoplifting so that makes all Filipinos like him?
@ M.B. What do you mean? all Filipinos like him? anyway my nephew was young and he did not meant to steal. We just realized now at his age that he has mental problem (schizophrenia ) he is adult now.
Anong ibig sabihin mo dito?
“because that is the most weakness of our people “magsamantala”. Everyone at the site responded to me angry. Maybe because I said corruption yata is “nananalatay na sa ating ugat or bloodstream””
Ah o sige, explain ko. pero teka muna ano ang dialect na naiintindihan mo para un ang gamitin ko medium para ndi maunawaan nung isa diyan na blogger ok? ang dialect ko eh bicol pero ndi masyado.
pasinsya na Angela kung sakalit ito eh off topic.
“TONY LA VINA | Now I am convinced: Pork barrels must go” http://www.interaksyon.com/article/69052/tony-la-vina–now-i-am-convinced-pork-barrels-must-go
here’s what i dont understand:
“but because at the heart of the system is the legislator’s involvement in how the projects are implemented and in particular who implements the projects. This is unconstitutional as it is a violation of separation of powers. This is also where corruption enters the picture.”
why not just change the system of how the implementation is done then? its so easy, why not do that?