CORRUPTION AND THE PORK BARREL

What is pork barrel?

Pork barrel is simply the use of government funds for projects designed to please voters or
legislators and win votes. The term pork barrel usually refers to spending which is intended to
benefit constituents of a politician in return for their political support, either in the form of campaign
contributions or votes.

What is corruption?

Corruption is a form of dishonesty or criminal activity undertaken by a person or

organization entrusted with a position of authority, often to acquire illicit benefit, or abuse of
entrusted power for one’s private gain.

MILKING THE GOVERNMENT

The Priority Development Assistance Fund scam, also called the PDAF scam or the pork
barrel scam is a political scandal involving the alleged misuse by several members of Congress of the
Philippines of their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF, popularly known as ‘pork barrel’ ),
a lump-sum discretionary fund granted to each member of Congress for spending on priority
development projects of the Philippine government, mostly on the national level.

As shown by the Inquirer’s investigative report on the pork barrel scam, JLN Corp., a
company that bears the initials of its founder, Janet Lim Napoles, appears to have devised the
perfect scam. As simple as the scam may seem at first glance, it is in the fact an elaborate operation
involving a lot of paperwork and assiduous follow up, using a wide network of connections in various
government offices. It cannot possibly work without the active collusion of politicians and/or
tolerance of officials in different government agencies.