By Kathrina Alvarez
HOUSE members who have used their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), which was recently declared as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court (SC), have no right to say they are against it, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said Friday.
"People who never availed of pork barrel themselves, I think those are the ones who could look at the camera and say masama yan but if you yourself availed of it and then now you're acting all goody good, that's a bit hypocrite," Belmonte told reporters.
The House minority bloc has earlier expressed its opposition over PDAF after the controversial multi-billion peso PDAF scam allegedly masterminded by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.
Records of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) however show that some of the minority congressmen, including the so-called Makabayan bloc composed of representatives from party-list groups Gabriela, Bayan Muna, Kabataan, Anakpawis and ACT Teachers, have used the PDAF allocated to them.
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court declared the PDAF or congressional pork barrel as unconstitutional via a 14-0 vote.
Belmonte said the House of Representatives will abide by the High Court's ruling.
Several House members also appealed to the appropriate government agencies to spend for the projects earlier covered by their PDAF. (Sunnex)