WHO: Everyone enraged by the controversy generated after private citizen Janet Napoles was incriminated in the misuse of government funds—specifically that of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) allotted to elected official in both Houses of Congress—a practice that seems to persist in the Aquino administration despite its calls for clean governance since it assumed office in 2010.
The PDAF is commonly known as "pork barrel," hence the image on the poster. Poor swine.
WHAT: A form of protest action calling for the the national government to outrightly abolish the so-called Pork Barrel Fund not only in both Houses of Congress but also of the President's, (proposed at Php 1.3 Trillion for 2014) in light of controversies arising from the Napoles case.
WHEN: Today, 04 October 2013 from 2-8 pm
WHERE: Ayala Avenue, Makati City
WHY:
a. Because despite today's Moody's 3rd investment upgrading and the stock market's historic highs, the majority of Filipinos in the Philippines still live below poverty level, jobs are scarce, average cost of living is high, average Filipinos still leave the country to work abroad in the hope of uplifting their living standards, and corruption is still prevalent in government agencies;
b. Because billions of unliquidated pesos supposedly meant for development and priority projects of senators and congressmen allegedly transferred hands among government officials and private citizen Napoles in the last 4 years alone (i.e. persisting even under the Aquino administration);
c. That the recently-unearthed DAP funds—a "mechanism" put in place (by the Budget Department in 2011) supposedly meant to accelerate government spending to foster economic growth—with full admissions from Senators coming in days after ambiguous denials and/or explanations related to such fund releases, have lead to more questions than answers about how the current administration spent its funds and savings yet not showing any concrete accomplishment since its implementation thereby "defeating its purpose," to paraphrase a Palace reporter.
d. That, practically in agreement with an article that quotes Alan Greenspan, despite the Aquino administration's economic growth achievements and efforts towards ridding agencies of corruption, the government's response to challenges or criticisms from its citizenry is:
Anyway, go and be counted if you can.
"[...Some would say] flustered and in denial. Seemingly shrugging off the disappointing statistics, the country’s technocrats are flushed with what legendary ex-Federal Reserve Board Chairman, Alan Greenspan, characterized as “Irrational Exuberance”: The tendency among market participants to obstinately focus on instantaneous, shallow gains at the expense of recognizing more fundamental structural imbalances in the economy, which carry long-term risks of destabilization. They rather focus on the boom in the stock markets and the investment grade euphoria, than, let’s say, re-examine the merits of the current growth trajectory. In fact, some studies, as business columnist Ben Kritz notes, suggest that there is little correlation between acquiring an investment grade status, on one hand, and growth in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), on the other."
(Source)
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Read former Budget Sec. Benjamin Diokno's take on the DAP:
"DAP as 'Fiscal Stimulus': a misnomer"
Oct. 2, 2013 / BusinessWorld Online
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