The PDAF as Question of Policy

Read the first part: On the Constitutionality of the Priority Development Assistance Fund

Pork barrel is, according to Merriam-Webster's dictionary:

"government projects or appropriations yielding rich patronage benefits"

A more technical definition removes the negative connotation and simply means legislative appropriations for specific districts or sectors. The PDAF is pork barrel.

Is patronage intrinsically evil? Is it corruption when a public official served people and those people voted for him afterwards? Is there not a leeway for public officials to make policy on which districts or sectors to prioritize?

Do members of Congress know the needs of the people?

District representatives being elected by a smaller number of related people compared to national officials arguably know their needs better. The same reasoning can be applied to sectoral representatives even if they are elected at-large. However, the same cannot be applied to senators.

The needs of a district or sector might be drowned when viewed at the national lens.

Are there public officials that know the needs of the people better than the representatives?

Most local government officials are elected by an even smaller number of related people. Further, the main argument is that representatives are at the House when there are sessions while local government officials can see the day-to-day affairs at home.

Most representatives have a secondary (or even main) residence near the House for convenience. At the extreme, some even return to their districts only during the election season.

What is the advantage then of representatives?

We can go back to the history of pork barrel. The pork barrels are easily distributed nationwide precisely because the representatives go back and forth from the capital to their districts. Even when the pork were transformed to cash, the advantage is still evident especially at times of war and calamity.

The advantage blurred when banks were established even to rural areas. Moreover, at this age of instant padala and electronic wallet, what annual-or-so pilgrimage is not yet bettered by modern financials?

To be continued.. The Final Solution to the Pork Question.