Lawmaker doubtful on Mar Roxas’ campaign funds

MANILA - Representative Carlos Zarate has questioned the sources of political campaign funds of Interior Secretary Mar Roxas who is running for the presidency in next year’s polls. 

"It seems that they are really bent on building up a more (of so-called) masa image for Mar Roxas, as his face is conspicuous on TV morning shows and with all his campaign ads on TV. But it makes us wonder where Mar Roxas is pulling all the money from. Fifteen seconds on a primetime commercial spot can go upwards from P250,000, while 30 seconds on TV can go upwards from half a million. His TV placements early in the game makes questioning his fund source a valid point," Zarate said in a statement sent to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner. 

He said the 2015 national budget was padded by the government to provide the administration substantial fuel for their campaign train. 

He said The DILG for example, with Mar Roxas in the stern, has a whopping P154.5 billion budget in 2015. “Ang DILG ay binigyan pa ng pondo para sa pabahay at patubig, na labas na sa mandato nito. Budget Secretary Florencio Abad cleverly crafted the 2015 budget to service the allies of the administration,” Zarate alleged. 

Zarate said that the large sums of money in strategic departments and the revolving definition of savings go hand in hand in ensuring money for Liberal Party campaign kitties. 

“We saw it last year and we see it again in the budget deliberations this year how the executive is pooling funds in local government units and in LP allies in the bureaucracy. Funds for local government units increased five-fold in the 2016 National Expenditures Program, because it is common knowledge among politicians that LGUs, up to the barangay level, are the base in ensuring electoral victories for national candidates especially in presidential races,” Zarate said. 

In a presentation during the Development Budget Coordinating Council hearing discussing the NEP 2016, Zarate also illustrated how the definition of savings and augmentation has evolved and has been used to cull a “hidden pork barrel.” 

“Secretary Abad defended their version of the meaning of savings, and how they hastily collect these "savings" mid-year, because it provides them the opportunity use these funds to their whim. In the hocus-pocus they are doing to the people's money by redefining, realigning, and restructuring, it is no wonder why people assume that all these money goes to the LP campaign train,” Zarate said. 

There was no immediate statement from Roxas on Zarate’s accusations. Zarate belongs to the opposition Bayan Muna party list group. (Mindanao Examiner)