Pork Barrel Funds (2001-2002)

Barely a year into his first term as senator, Lacson saw for himself – and exposed – the extent of corruption in pork barrel funds, broken down as follows: 2% goes to the Commission on Audit as SOP; 10% to the district engineer and other officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways; 2% to the Barangay Chairman; 14% to the contractor; 10% in profit and 4% as value-added tax; 5-10%, if the Mayor or Governor so demands; and 20% of project cost for the legislator who identifies the project.

In his first year, he dismissed two members of his staff who he found to be engaged in the pork-laden corruption.

But Lacson also learned that if a legislator merely did not allocate a single centavo from his or her pork allocation, it would merely be prone to reallocation – in effect, allowing Malacañang to do what it pleases with another P200 million, in the case of senators.

Since 2002, Lacson has not only rejected his pork barrel allocation: he has also made it a tradition to make the last amendment during deliberations on the national budget, to deduct P200 million from it and put the amount in the National Treasury.

Effect:

Lacson’s decision to forego his pork barrel funds defined his battle against corruption as a legislator while his expose generated public awareness on the ills of the pork barrel system. Since 2002, he has saved P200 million each year – or a total of P1.6 billion - in taxpayers’ money by not availing of his pork barrel.