Lawmakers pocketing kickbacks from ‘pork’

SEN. Panfilo Lacson on Sunday claimed that some lawmakers are demanding commissions from government projects funded by their “pork barrel” and that he intends to personally inform President Benigno Aquino 3rd about it.

Lacson revealed that he knows of two legislators who sought commissions from projects funded by their Priority Development Assistance Fund, popularly known as “pork barrel.” He refused to identify them or to say if they are members of the Senate or the House of Representatives.

Every year, each congressman receives a “pork” allocation of P70 million while each senator gets P200 million.

Lacson said that the commissions that legislators were asking for range from 10 percent to 15 percent of the total cost of an infrastructure project. He said that there were instances that the commission ranges from 20 percent to 30 percent.

“Halos wala na’ng maiwan sa project [only a small amount is left for the project],” he noted. –RITCHIE A. HORARIO, Manila Times