PDAF scandal: Aquino walks a tightrope

A scandal over lawmakers’ misuse of public funds has become the biggest crisis of Philippine President Benigno Aquino’s three-year rule, tainting his carefully crafted image as a corruption fighter and undermining his ability to push economic reforms.
Aquino has struggled to keep the scandal at arms length since late July, when a whistleblower revealed that some lawmakers, including the president’s allies, were stealing up to half the money being allocated to local projects from discretionary government funds.
Aquino has tried to tap into the public mood by saying he too is outraged by the corruption, which was corroborated in a detailed report by the state auditing body.
But the allegations have drawn closer to the presidency, suggesting Aquino has failed to convincingly tackle a culture of political patronage that centers on the $586 million Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), widely known as the “pork barrel.” His popularity rating plunged by 15 points in a recent opinion survey to 49 percent. The focus has now shifted to a separate development fund set up quietly in 2011 by Aquino’s administration, the Disbursement Acceleration Program. Among its disbursements were transfers totaling 1.1 billion pesos ($25.5 million) to 18 senators last year after they voted to impeach the Supreme Court chief justice, who was seen as an Aquino rival. Aquino has vehemently denied allegations this amounted to political bribery, accusing his opponents of trying to distract attention from the real scandal. Aquino, 53, won office on a platform of curbing the corruption that has drained government coffers and entrenched poverty in the Philippines. Since then the Philippines has recorded strong growth, improved its public finances and been awarded investment grade ratings, partly dispelling its “sick man of Asia” reputation.
The president has taken a tough line on tax evaders and launched criminal cases against former officials, including his predecessor Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, her family and allies. But the current scandal shows how discretionary funds are a crucial mechanism for controlling the two-chamber Congress. After initially resisting calls for “pork barrel” reform, Aquino announced in August that he would abolish for next year the PDAF of 70 million pesos for each lower-house member and 200 million pesos for each senator, a total of 25.2 billion pesos ($586 million).
The funds are meant for local development projects such as schools, health centers and road construction, as well as for the distribution of medicine and fertilizer. The abolition of the fund could severely inhibit Aquino’s ability to push through reforms such as a planned increase in mining taxes seen as crucial to attract investment into the moribund sector. It could also delay implementation of a complex peace deal to end a long-running Muslim rebellion in the resource-rich south.
Filipinos were shocked by media accounts of the opulent lifestyle of the woman who is suspected of running a massive kickback scheme for lawmakers. Janet Lim Napoles, the wife of a former Marine major, has been accused by the Department of Justice of setting up fake non-government organizations that since 2007 received lawmakers’ pork barrel funds and then routed the money back to them.
The accusations that Aquino himself used public funds to buy off senators has forced him on the defensive and distracted him from his economic agenda.
The scandal has also sharpened questions over how much Aquino has achieved since he took power in 2010. Despite investigating hundreds of tax evasion cases, his government has yet to win a single conviction. Critics say Aquino has failed to support reform measures to reduce the influence of money politics, such as the pending anti-graft Freedom of Information Act. They also say his efforts have targeted political foes far more than allies.

• REUTERS