Human Rights Online Philippines

PERSONALAN NA! Isang daang araw na ang nagdaan, pangatawanan ang tuwid na daan, panagutin lahat ng kawatan!
A CALL TO UNITY ON DECEMBER 6, 2013

Source: scrapporknetwork.com

A year of unprecedented natural and man-made disasters, a display of unparalleled corruption are what most Filipinos will remember of the year 2013.

On the one hand, reports of massive corruption, of people toying around with billions of pesos of our money — and a government preoccupied with defending the infrastructure that props up these wrongs. On the other, millions of survivors of disasters reeling from their loss and the balance of the population struggling to fill the vacuum in government services.

The deaths, injuries and scale of destruction highlight the gaps in disaster reduction and management that an efficient budget process and exercise of fiscal responsibility could have plugged.

What we have, however, is a system that diverts too much public funds to Pork: the whole-scale award of state monies to institutions and official positions and the assigning of vast discretionary powers that often place them beyond the pale of accountability.

‘Walang personalan?’ Hindi po. No Filipino has been spared the direct impact of the corruption bred by pork. Personalan na! Walang Pilipino na ligtas sa epekto ng korupsyon.

The Scrap Pork Network believes there can be no piecemeal approach to the eradication of pork. Thus, our three main calls (1) Scrap the pork barrel system. 2) Account for all funds spent. 3) Investigate and punish ALL who misuse pork.

December 6 marks 100 days since the surrender of Janet Napoles, a major conduit for diverted pork funds. No case has yet reached the Sandiganbayan. Very few from the huge cast detailed in special PDAF audit have been charged for the loss of public funds. Nor has the public been shown detailed accounting of pork spending outside of 2007 to 2009.

The Supreme Court has recently declared the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) as illegal; a move which we certainly welcome. However, this only comprises a small fraction of “pork”, which plagues our nation.

Year after year, grassroots calls for improvement in government service have been met with one excuse: lack of funds. The billions of pesos that are just the tip of the pork iceberg show the real story: Pork and its accompanying corruption steal funds that could have improved people’s lives.

We, the #ScrapPork Network, a network composed of many different groups, as well as many unaffiliated individuals—students, activists, economists, faith-based leaders, young workers, artists, businesspeople, educators, together with other groups and individuals, are calling on all Filipinos to join us on at 4pm on December 6 to point to the failure of the Ombudsman to file cases within 100 days of Napoles’ surrender. And to call the government to account for its inadequate response to the disaster brought about by typhoon Yolanda.

We are also calling for concerned citizens all over the Philippines and even in different parts of the globe to join us at 5:00pm on December 6th in giving voice to our call to demand for systemic change.

Program:
4:00pm— Assembly and program at the Office of the Ombudsman
5:00pm— Noise barrage and united raising of the Philippine Flag
5:15pm— Torchlight Walk from the Office of the Ombudsman to Quezon City Memorial Circle
6:15pm— Program for Yolanda survivors at Quezon City Memorial Circle