Sense of entitlement

There is merit to Social Welfare and Development Secretary Judy Taguiwalo’s position that lawmakers should not be given preferential treatment in identifying and lobbying for beneficiaries of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) projects.

Taguiwalo, a former University of the Philippines (UP) professor who was nominated by the National Democratic Front (NDF) to President Rodrigo Duterte for the DSWD post, had to argue her position before legislators who questioned why they should be prohibited from listing beneficiaries of the DSWD.

The secretary denied reports that a memo she issued prohibits legislators from identifying and lobbying beneficiaries and clarified that it only seeks to avoid giving preferential treatment to them.

Some of these congressmen, like Ako Bicol partylist Rep. Alfredo Garbin, accused Taguiwalo of citing as basis for her memo a Supreme Court ruling that declared as unconstitutional the priority development assistance fund (PDAF) of Congress.

But even if she denied this, the process of identifying beneficiaries of DSWD projects and, by extension, lobbying for them is tantamount to allocating PDAF or pork barrel funds to legislators since they determine who gets to receive cash or material aid.

In trying to insist on their right to identify beneficiaries, legislators like Majority Floor leader Rudolfo Farinas said it is Congress that holds the power of the purse, and thus they determine which funds go to which department and how large their share would be.

But while they may be elected representatives of the people, Taguiwalo’s argument that she wants to remove the sense of “entitlement” and privilege associated with identifying and determining the amount of funds for the beneficiaries they identify is in keeping not only with the SC ruling to scrap the PDAF but also with public sentiment and distaste on public officials claiming credit for bringing projects to constituents when it is, in reality, funded by taxpayers’ money.

She is right in saying that the issue is not about who between the DSWD and legislators know their constituents better but on where and to whom should the projects be channeled through.

In this respect, the legislators and, by extension, the local officials should allow not only the DSWD but other national government agencies to do their jobs in serving all Filipinos throughout the country.

The officials should coordinate instead and not impose on these agencies, only asserting their authority when it is clearly shown that these government agencies aren’t doing their jobs well or worse, are abusing their positions to maltreat and abuse their constituents.