The “legitimate” minority bloc in the House of Representatives on Tuesday doused reports that the pork barrel is back in the proposed P3.35-trillion national budget. Lagman said the practice of requesting a list of projects does not fall under post-budget enactment intervention, which was the practice before when solons dipped their hands into the congressional lump sum funds or pork barrel for pet projects. Lagman said representatives should not be faulted for thinking of their constituents’ interests in requesting for projects in the budget. Hindi kasalanan kung kami ay magsusubmit (It’s not our fault if we submit) (ng list of projects) consistent with the requirements of the leadership of the House. But Diokno said there is no “hard and fast” rule in the practice of requesting projects from the department, and that lawmakers are entitled to request projects based on their constituents’ needs.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer August 16, 2016 05:57 UTC