At least three senators have expressed readiness to let go of their “pork barrel” funds amid the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)’s call to junk these controversial allocations. At a press briefing Tuesday, Senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV said there is “weight” in the call by Roman Catholic Church officials to junk the priority development assistance fund (PDAF). “Kung wala namang pork barrel, I don’t think any of us will be lesser legislators … If tomorrow, the President or the Senate President will call for the abolition of the pork barrel, I won’t mind,” Aquino said. The neophyte lawmaker said he plans to use his PDAF to fund programs that will create job opportunities for ordinary Filipinos. “Ako naman, if the pork barrel is there, we will use it for right purposes,” he said. Earlier in the day, Bam, who is President Aquino’s first cousin, said he opposes proposals from some of his fellow lawmakers to stop the release of “pork barrel” funds to non-government organizations (NGOs). At a separate briefing, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said he also won’t mind having these discretionary funds abolished, since it is the Executive Department which benefits from the PDAF anyway. “Either way, okay lang. Kung mayroon, e di gagamitin natin nang maayos. Kung wala, tuloy lang tayo sa trabaho natin. Itong pork barrel, this is a policy tool of the president to get his legislative agenda done,” Trillanes said. On Monday, incoming CBCP president and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas Read More …