KOBE BEEF: So you are scandalized by the P22.3-billion pork barrel of congressmen and senators drawn each year from the Countryside Development Fund (CDF)?

Pardon me, but that is just a thin stick of barbecue compared to the thick slab of the P266-billion Kobe beef steak being devoured by mayors and governors from their annual Internal Revenue Allotments (IRA).

Whether CDF barbecue or IRA steak, both juicy servings come from the national coffers. Both funds are earmarked for countryside development spending of the Executive department.

Both are open to abuse. But while the P266-billion IRA is 10 times the P22.3-billion CDF or pork barrel, hardly anything is said or done to check how the IRA is used by local executives.

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PUBLIC DERISION: The pork barrel allotment of each senator is P200 million. Multiplied by 24 senators, that is P4.8 billion.

Their junior partners the congressmen are entitled to P70 million each. Multiplied by 250 congressmen, that is P17.5 billion.

The combined pork barrel at the disposal of senators and congressmen totals P22.3 billion each year. The abuse of this item in the national budget is now the object of derision in media and the general public.

But the same critics do not seem to notice that the total IRA of governors and (city and town) mayors this year alone is a whopping P265.8 billion! Next year, the figure could jump to almost P300 billion as internal revenue collections rise.

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IRA SINKHOLE: The IRA came into being in 1991 when the Local Government Code sponsored by Sen. Nene Pimentel was passed.

The law mandates that 40 percent of total collections of the Bureau of Internal Revenue go straight to local governments. Since 1991, trillions (!) have been given to governors and mayors, and even to barangays.

But what do local governments have to show for that staggering windfall? While countless communities have wallowed in poverty and its attendant ills, many governors and mayors have grown wealthy just by twiddling their sticky fingers in office.

To the anti-corruption eyes and ears of the Aquino administration, the proper use of the IRA should be a priority area of investigation.

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DEAD INITIATIVE: The downloading of millions in IRA funds has killed the initiative of many local executives to devise ways of enhancing local sources of revenue. Many of them just wait for the IRA to drop on their laps, then help themselves to it.

There should be a study on what percentage of IRA goes to boosting essential services, enhancing the quality of life and spurring progress in the countryside.

Around 60 percent of internal revenues are collected in the national capital region. Honest taxpayers are entitled to know where their money goes.

Revenue allotments are transfused directly into the local bloodstream, unlike pork barrel funds whose flow through the arteries radiating from Malacanang ebbs and flows depending on presidential temper and the politics of the moment.

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PLUG LOOPHOLES: In the same way and almost for the same reasons that the pork barrel system must be cleansed of occasions of sin, the IRA system should be revisited.

This will be tricky as the Congress that should amend the law is populated by the same operators who gorge on pork and whose relatives, political allies and business associates are IRA beneficiaries.

Congressmen and senators need not go into public hearings to know what is wrong with both the pork barrel and the IRA systems. They already know all the loopholes to plug, because they were the ones who inserted them in the first place.

What we need is public opinion – molded and aided by media — pressuring all three branches of government to recognize that “kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap” and to take steps to make that a reality in their respective realms.

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KEEP CDF, IRA: Despite the abuses, I am against the abolition of pork barrel, technically called CDF. Also, by pointing out abuses in the IRA of local governments, I do not mean to advocate its abolition or reduction.

As money for countryside development is essential, we should continue appropriating the funds — but look for ways to streamline the system to rid it of graft and make it cost-effective.

The basic CDF error is that senators and congressmen choose contractors for projects in their areas. The job of legislators is to enact laws, not to meddle in public works and similar activities that are the responsibility of the Executive.

Sometimes they do not only choose contractors (and get the usual fat commission, sometimes in advance), but even become the contractors themselves through dummies.

I understand the need for congressmen to be able to show their constituents the projects they had sponsored, but their dipping into the project funds is something else.

Aside from refinements in the law and the implementing rules, public vigilance through anti-corruption watchdog organizations will help.

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TWISTED LOGIC: Without referring to specific cases, I am not comfortable with the attitude of the conquering Yellow Army that prosecutory and judicial officials must prove their independence before they can be respected.

There should be a presumption of regularity. Anybody who feels aggrieved has many legal options in challenging any ruling of the Office of the Ombudsman, the Supreme Court or any inferior court.

We cannot assail the independence of the Chief Justice, the associate justices and the Ombudsman on the sole basis of their having been appointed by then President Gloria Arroyo.

Does it follow that future appointees of President Noynoy Aquino will be similarly beholden to him and therefore will not be fair and independent?