Enrile denies senators got P100M ‘pork’ to postpone ARMM polls

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on Thursday dismissed rumors that some senators received an additional P100-million pork barrel in exchange for their support of the postponement of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) elections. "That is falsity and whoever said that is a liar," Enrile told reporters during a weekly forum at the Senate. The rumor came out after the Senate on Monday night approved on third and final reading a bill that would synchronize the ARMM polls with the May 2013 midterm national elections. The senators who voted for the measure were Enrile, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, Senate Majority Floor Leader Vicente “Tito" Sotto III, and Senators Franklin Drilon, Ralph Recto, Teofisto Guingona III, Francis Pangilinan, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Panfilo Lacson, Gringo Honasan, Pia Cayetano, Lito Lapid, and Antonio Trillanes IV. Enrile, however, said that no senator would stoop so low by voting in favor of a measure in exchange for an additional pork barrel, also known as Priority Assistance Development Fund (PDAF). "Do you think that anyone of us is that bad? I think you should have faith in your elected people. If we have no faith, let us dissolve," he said. He likewise noted that a meeting between senators and the President does not mean anything. "When we are invited by a President it is a matter of courtesy that we respond to him and talk to him, but that doesn’t mean that we are gong to make a deal." Prior to the passage of the bill, which Malacañang certified as urgent, President Benigno Aquino III met with Liberal Party senators — Guingona, Drilon, Pangilinan, and Recto — to discuss the proposed measure. The PDAF is a lump-sum appropriation in the annual General Appropriations Act to fund the priority development programs and projects of the government. The programs and projects implemented under this fund include scholarship programs, medical assistance to indigent patients, livelihood support programs, the purchase of IT equipment, rural electrification, water supply, peace and order, financial assistance to local government units for their priority projects and programs, and infrastructure projects. Members of the House of Representatives get P70 million in PDAF while senators get P200 million. - KBK, GMA News