MANILA – The multisectoral group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan joined public school teachers and government health workers in their protest action during the Senate deliberation of the 2015 national budget on Wednesday, Nov. 19.
They criticized the legislative body for not carefully looking through the national budget that is “full of pork” that has been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
“At least $27 billion ($600 million) of pork funds are inserted in different government agencies such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Education, Labor and Employment, Public Works and Highways, Tesda, and the state universities and colleges and this will be accessed through the referral system or patronage politics,” said Bayan spokesman Teddy Casiño said during the protest action.
Casiño also criticized the P400 billion ($8.9 billion) pork barrel funds of President Aquino. He said that the fund was not detailed and he can spend it according to his discretion. All these kind of pork barrel, Casiño said, should be taken away from the 2015 national budget and instead spent on the upgrading of salaries of government employees, health workers and teachers.
Photos and text by Anne Marxze D. Umil
