Pinoys around the world stage rallies vs pork barrel

MANILA/SAN FRANCISCO – Angry Filipinos in the Philippines and around the world held simultaneous protest actions on Monday, August 26, as they pushed for the abolition of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel.
A day earlier, President Aquino, who has P1.2 trilliion pork barrel in the 2014 proposed national government budget of P2.7 trillion, announced the pork barrel of congressmen and senators amounting to P27 billion this year will be abolished, but the Chief Executive’s announcement failed to stop the rallies.
Aquino also vowed that all those involved in the P10-billion pork barrel scam linking businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles will be punished even as Budget Secretary Florencio Abad declared that the abolition may not take place as re-alignment maybe resorted to instead.
As this developed, Justic Secretary Leila de Lima and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales teamed up to investigate thoroughly several senators and congressmen in the pork barrel scam.
In a related development, former Sen. Panfilo Lacson said three senators and more than 20 congressman may face criminal charges over alleged misuse and abuse of their pork barrel. He maybe referring to Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. who were found by the Commission on Audit to have possibly misused their PDAF.
Meanwhile, Vice President Jejomar Binay called for a thorough investigation on the alleged pork barrel scam and widening the Commission on Audit probe to include the years 2010, 2011 and 2012 of the Aquino administration.
Lacson, who has been endorsed by some lawmakers to investigate the so-called pork barrel scam, however, did not name those to be charged.
Several other senators, meanwhile, expressed support for the abolition of the PDAF. Senators Francis Escudero and Alan Peter Cayetano earlier filed separate resolutions seeking the scrapping of the PDAF.
Other senators who expressed support for PDAF’s scrapping are Ralph Recto, Gregorio Honasan, Teofisto Guingona III, Aquilino Pimentel III, Loren Legarda, Grace Poe, Juan Edgardo Angara, Ramon Revilla Jr. and Benigno Aquino IV, all members of the majority bloc.
Members of the minority who supported the idea of scrapping the PDAF included Vicente Sotto III and Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito.
The main rally at the Rizal Park in Manila attracted some 100,000 to 300,000 participants that included the head of the Philippine Catholic Church, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle, congressmen and national leaders, businessmen, and many showbusiness personalities.
Protests actions were held also in key cities in the Philippines like Davao, Cebu, Baguio, Dagupan, General Santos, San Fernando and Olongapo attended by thousands.
In Los Angeles, protesters marched infront of a house and properties believed to be owned by the Napoles family which also owns a hotel near Disneyland in Anaheim. Other protests were held in San Francisco, Chicago, Washington and New York.
Among those at the rally were former Chief Justice Renato Corona and his family who were praised by some and booed by others, former beauty queen Gloria Diaz, television host Willie Revillame, Buhay Party-List Congressman Jose Atienza Jr., former Armed Forces chief Hermogenes Esperon and former Congressman Gualberto Lumauig.
The rally was described by local media as “the first biggest protest against the Aquino administration.”
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle encouraged Filipinos to exhibit the “bayanihan” spirit by being noble and being a hero at the rally.
Tagle, the archbishop of Manila, was previously in tears after breaking his silence on the pork barrel scam issue, saying it was difficult to stomach damage of that kind on the country.
This time, he urged Filipinos to be noble everywhere they went.
“Filipinos are noble,” Tagle said in a speech which was delivered in Filipino.
“Noble because they are God-fearing, have a respect for life, are charitable towards people, nationalistic and environmental.”
He then stressed that one must be noble in any part of the world — whether it be on land, air or even in sea.
The protesters came from various social sectors including religious, professional, business and even civil servants. They shouted the slogans of “Scrap the pork barrel now” and “Punish the corrupt.”
“It is not only for one day, today’s march is just the beginning,” the organizers said.
President Aquino stressed that conspirators will be held accountable in the alleged misuse of the Priority Assistance Development Fund (PDAF) of lawmakers.
“We will do everything in our power to find those who conspired to take advantage of the PDAF’s good intentions, and to hold them accountable,” the President said in his speech at the celebration of the National Heroes Day at the Libingan ng mga Bayani on Monday morning.

He said that he will make certain that the mistakes of the past will not be repeated to ensure that taxpayers’ money is properly used.
Garry Martinez, Migrante International chairperson, said that Filipinos living and working in Asia, North Africa, Canada, United States, Australia, New Zealand and Europe “ found different ways and various forms to participate and show their outrage against corruption in the Aquino government.”
“For OFWs, it is only fitting that protests culminate today, National Heroes Day. Dubbed the ‘modern-day heroes’, OFWs are claiming their stake in the call to abolish Aquino’s pork barrel,” he said in a statement.
Martinez said that Filipinos launched simultaneous global protests with the following unities:— To reiterate the call to scrap the pork barrel as the e P26-billion congressional pork remains in the 2014 national budget;- To demand accountability and the prosecution of ALL persons, officials, agencies and bogus NGOs involved in the misuse of pork barrel funds; and,- To demand the re-channeling of the pork barrel to provide free, more accessible and more efficient services and welfare assistance for OFWs in distress.