In a nine-minute press briefing this afternoon, President Benigno Aquino III says it’s time to abolish the Priority Development Assistance Fund. “There are those who treat PDAF as their own private fund, to use as they please. This is clearly wrong: What is involved here is the people’s money; it should be used for the benefit of the people, and not for the benefit of a few greedy individuals,” he says. His two-point plan to fix the recent pork barrel scandal involves “exact[ing] accountability from those who have abused the system” and “find[ing] a better way to ensure that the public coffers will be spent with only the public’s benefit in mind.” Pres. Aquino’s big reveal comes days before the “Million People March” to call for the total abolition of pork barrels, scheduled on 26 August at the Luneta Park.
