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No 'pork barrel' releases ahead of Merci impeachment vote


No new releases from the priority development assistance fund (PDAF), popularly known as pork barrel, will be made ahead of the vote on Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez's impeachment case, the Department of Budget and Management said Monday. Although the undistributed "pork" funds for the second semester of 2010 are being apportioned to lawmakers since January this year, the PDAF for 2011 has not been released, House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. likewise said. In text message to GMA News, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said Monday, “No releases yet. In fact, the guidelines for release have just been finalized." Belmonte made it clear the pork barrel allocation has nothing to do with the lower chamber’s pending vote on the Ombudsman’s impeachment case. "However you vote on any issue, a congressman is entitled [to the PDAF] and he will get it. He or she may disagree with the administration or the leadership of the House," he told reporters in a separate interview. It is just "right" for the PDAF from 2010 to be distributed at the beginning of this year, the House Speaker added. House minority member Zambales Rep. Milagros Magsaysay, one of the lawmakers who recently got her 2010 PDAF, said she does not see the connection between the PDAF and the impeachment case. "To be fair, I see no correlation with the release last week and the impeachment vote this week. Thankful pa nga ako kasi delayed na delayed na ito. 'Yung mga proyekto ko sa distrito ko, matutuloy na (I'm thankful, because this has been delayed so much. My projects in my district can now proceed)," she said in a separate interview. House members are scheduled to deliberate on the impeachment case against Gutierrez this week after the House justice committee last week found probable cause to remove the Ombudsman from her post. Under Section 3, Article XI of the 1987 Constitution, the impeachment complaint against Gutierrez need a third of all House members — in this case, 94 affirmative votes — before the case can be transmitted to the Senate for trial. — VS, GMA News

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