More than corruption in pork barrel use, government has
corrupted the people's value that personal and parental responsibility can be
secondary to more government responsibility.
I said that during a forum at De La Salle University
(DLSU) Manila last Friday, September 27, 2013, "Double Dead: A Forum on PDAF", in
front of about 200 students. The event was organized by two student
organizations, the Pol. Science Society plus an organization of Development
Studies majors.
I was one of three speakers that day. The other two were
Atty. Eduard Chico of DLSU College of Law, and another lady lawyer from DLSU
College of Business Administration. We seemed to corroborate each other's
point, very spontaneous.
The format was also based on spontaneous discussion. No
powerpoint, the faculty moderator, Prof. Gina Lomotan of the DLSU
Political Science Department, read the guide questions, then three minutes talk
from each speaker, then Q&A round 1, Then student moderators read a question
and asked the audience response/answer of Yes or No, asks some of them to
explain their answer. Then Q&A round 2, and so on. All done in 1 1/2 hour.
My opening arguments to answer these questions were as
follows.
1. Pork barrel is a bribe by the Executive branch for its wasteful if not corrupt spending. An equally wasteful and corrupt Legislative branch has allowed this, via pork barrel fund. If the Legislature is truly independent, it should have checked and controlled the Executive's wastefulness, but it did not do its job.
2. One clear proof of the Executive branch's wastefulness is the ever-rising public debt. Even in the absence of clear national emergencies (1990-91 earthquake + Pinatubo eruption, 1997-98 Asian financial crisis were clear emergencies and debt financing and borrowing were clearly justified), the Executive kept borrowing, endlessly and irresponsibly, to finance its wasteful and often bloated spending. Even if domestic revenues are not enough, government keeps spending beyond its means. The public debt stock is rising by around P350-400 B a year.
1. Pork barrel is a bribe by the Executive branch for its wasteful if not corrupt spending. An equally wasteful and corrupt Legislative branch has allowed this, via pork barrel fund. If the Legislature is truly independent, it should have checked and controlled the Executive's wastefulness, but it did not do its job.
2. One clear proof of the Executive branch's wastefulness is the ever-rising public debt. Even in the absence of clear national emergencies (1990-91 earthquake + Pinatubo eruption, 1997-98 Asian financial crisis were clear emergencies and debt financing and borrowing were clearly justified), the Executive kept borrowing, endlessly and irresponsibly, to finance its wasteful and often bloated spending. Even if domestic revenues are not enough, government keeps spending beyond its means. The public debt stock is rising by around P350-400 B a year.
3. The Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or other
Philippine legislators pork barrel can never be abolished because it is a bribe
by the Executive branch to the Legislative so that the wastes and irresponsible
spending by the former will be tolerated without much questions.
My other points during the open forum were:
My other points during the open forum were:
5. Since the audience were mostly Political Science and Development Studies majors, I briefly discussed political theory, "What is the role of government?" From the 3 Social Contract theoreticians, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau, and corroborated by another classical thinker, Adam Smith, the main role of government is to protect the citizens from aggression, protect their right to life against murderers and aggressors, their right to private property against thieves and destroyers of property, their right to liberty against bullies. The classical thinkers hardly or never advised that government should provide numerous, endless, forever redistribution and welfarism. Such endless welfarism has become the basis of endless expansion of government including pork barrel expansion.
