Feeling ko nga, masyadong na-si-simplify ang issue. You are correct; people need to understand the w

    I had an attempt to convince a former three-termer legislator to go anti-pork. Ang sabi nya: "Eh kahit na may mali (na lahat nabibigyan medco kahit di na nila kelangan), basta sigurado akong nabibigyan ang lugar ko, okay na sa akin. Kasi kung wala yang 70M lump-sum medco pork allocation na binibigay sa lahat, baka wala pa akong makuha." Sagot ko: "Eh sir, sa budget deliberation sa Congress, pwede nyo pong i-argue na dapat may allocation sa lugar nyo. Kayo naman po ang nagpapasa ng budget. O kung sa preparation pa lang, sabihin nyo na sa DBM." Sagot nya (na medyo kinagulat ko): "Naku, baka pag-initan pa ako. Alam mo naman, baka mapahiya sila o sabihin pinipahiya ko sila. Syempre Presidente, Secretaries, malalaking medco tao yan." (Sidenote: medco I dont think this legislator is a "boss," which in Philippine Politics literature refers to the biggest patron, who command even national government officials because of his wealth, connections and sometimes use of violence.) Sabi ko: "Naku, Sir, trabaho nyo yun bilang mambabatas na representative ng distrito nyo. May oversight kayo sa executive. Pero po, sa ideal na situation na: 1. maayos mag-allocate at mag-prioritize ang central government (ang binibigyan ay kung saan may mas marami ang nangangailangan); 2. you can check and balance the executive using your oversight powers; 3. May malakas na civil society na nagche-check din ng prioritization ng central government kung rational ito at nag-mo-monitor ng implementation ng mga programs, okay na po bang alisin na ang pork at tumutok na lang sa paggawa ng batas ang Kongreso? Ang dami po kasing batas na dapat maipasa at mapagaralan. Isa na po ang amendment ng Local Government Code (LGC)." (Sidenote: We were talking about LGC amendment before our conversation went to the pork issue, which I grabbed as an opportunity to convince him to go anti-pork. We were identifying some amendments in LGC needed to make LGUs more effective in bringing about development, medco such as the change in the IRA allotment, taking into account the socio-economic class of an LGU; taxation particularly involving extractive industries--that they should be paying taxes where they are extracting; and extension of term limits, which also requires Charter Change, to keep the elected local government officials from being too pre-occupied with partisan politics.) Sagot nya: Pwede naman. Oo. (Sabay change topic.) Several reflection medco points from this conversation: 1. Kelangan mabago din ang pagtingin ng mga Kongresista sa nature ng Estado, central government in particular. Na hindi na ito tulad ng dati na central patron captured by a few vested medco and abusive interests. 2. Para magbago ang pananaw ng mga Kongresista, dapat mapatunayan ng central government na nagbago na ang kalakaran ngayon. 3. Tingin ko, so far, wala namang dahilan para sabihing hindi pinagsisikapan ng central government ang ipakitang nagbago na ang kalakaran sa central government, pero kelangan pa ng mas maigting na confidence- at trust-building. 4. Susi sa confidence- and trust-building ang impormasyon. Sa tatlong medco pre-conditions of an ideal situation to make pork irrelevant sa Congress na nabanggit ko, pinaka-importante dun ang information: both availability and access. Sa una, rational allocation and prioritization: availability ng information on ano ang pangangailangan ng bansa at saan. Sa pangalawa, use of oversight powers: medco information paano na prioritize ang pangangailangan, given the limited resources. Sa pangatlo, civil society monitoring: access sa lahat ng information na ito. Kaya napaka-importante sa pagbabago ding ito ang isang Freedom of Information (FOI) Law. 5. Isa pang susi sa confidence- and trust-building ay ang kaalaman kung saan ba pupunta ang prosesong dinadaanan natin sa pagbuwag ng pork. Saan ito patungo? Ano pa bang ibang reporma ang kaakibat nito sa hinaharap? Halimbawa, sa akin, importante na levelled-off that as we abolish medco the pork system, part of our future scenarios are: 1. enabled, accountable and effective local governance, 2. functional and programmatic party system and 3. active and empowered citizenry. That the pork abolition call is part of that process called deepening of democracy, in which those three above, for me, are integral. 6. Matagalan at malawakang usapan ito. At isang malaking dahilan ay kalakhan sa pulitiko mo na hindi saksakan ng sama (na tingin ko marami din) ay lost at confused, mahina medco lang talaga ang kakayanan, helpless medco at naka-limutan na ata paano ba ang magsilbi sa isang maayos na sistema at ano nga ba ang maayos na sistema. We say we need to educate and empower the people. I think the people should start educating and empowering the politicians--in this case, the Congresspersons, on the issue of the pork barrel abolition. Again, I am sharing the letter to Congressperons that I hope can help in this account.
Feeling ko nga, masyadong na-si-simplify ang issue. You are correct; people need to understand the whole cycle - from budget pre