DPWH hints at slashing Arroyo's P2.2-B 'pork' if...

The Department of Public Works and Highways hinted Thursday it may slash a portion of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's P2.2-billion "pork" as the agency takes a closer look at how this public works fund is spent. DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson said that while the funds are part of a foreign loan obligation, he may "talk" to the loaning agency if some components of the project are irregular or "not urgent." "We are just checking .... May mga component ba na natitira na hindi urgent? Kung meron, kakausapin namin ang funders. Pag may loan agreement naka-specify ano ang gagawin o ano ang proyekto. I think the funders will be reasonable," he said in an interview on dwIZ radio. (We are going to check. Are there components in the projects funded by the foreign loans that are not too urgent? We will talk to the funders. Usually a loan agreement specifies what items the funds will be spent on. I think the funders will be reasonable.) Citing reports reaching him, Singson said there are complaints raising questions about some parts of the project funded by the P2.2 billion allocation. "We are looking at some components of the project. There are complaints that some streets in Mrs. Arroyo's hometown of Lubao had been raised as high as the first floor of a house. We cannot do anything about that because that stage of the project had been implemented. But we can still look at the unimplemented parts to see what portions we can afford not to implement anymore," he said in Filipino. However, he admitted the P2.2 billion is part of a foreign loan obligation for a project to mitigate flooding and lahar flow in Mrs. Arroyo's home province of Pampanga. Singson said the project is part of a big flood control program in the whole of the Central Luzon where Pampanga is located. He insisted that the P2.2 billion is not "pork barrel" fund. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda on Wednesday said the P2.2-billion public works fund for Rep. Arroyo’s district in Pampanga will not be sourced from the Priority Development Assistance Fund – commonly known as “pork barrel" – but is part of loans finalized during her term as President. Lacierda said the fund was sourced from loans from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and the Korean Development and Cooperation Fund. Among the contractual obligations of these loans was that part of them be allotted to then-President Arroyo’s district in Pampanga. The funds reportedly will be used for flood mitigation projects under the Mt. Pinatubo Hazard Mitigation project, including engineering interventions that will allow water to flow out into the Pampanga Bay portion of Manila Bay. — LBG, GMANews.TV