'Pork barrel king' tag irks Philippine leader Aquino
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Bristling at the tag "pork barrel king," Philippine President Benigno Aquino has accused his predecessor, Gloria Arroyo, of accumulating close to 1 trillion pesos (Bt718.3 billion) in a discretionary fund to stay in power.
The president, assailed over the release of 1.107 billion pesos in “pork barrel” funds to senators after the Senate convicted Chief Justice Renato Corona in May 2012, is seeking to shift the spotlight onto the Arroyo administration amid the current saga of scams.
The president himself wondered whether portions of the alleged Arroyo loot were being used to fund negative propaganda against him.
“It could have surpassed 1 trillion pesos. How much was lost, stolen and played around with, or used in transactions to stay in power?” Aquino said, speaking at the Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen and Professionals’ Grand Breakfast at the SMX Convention in Pasay City.
“Is it too much to suspect that this money is now being circulated to undermine your trust in daang matuwid [the straight path] and to sow trouble and terror in many forms, and challenge those of us who had long been abused, and are now seeking justice to hold the violators accountable?” he said.
Arroyo, now a Pampanga representative, is under house arrest on plunder charges.
