Former Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Emilia Boncodin defended Saturday the use by members of Congress of the “pork barrel” funds as long as they are properly audited and guarded.

The “pork barrel system,” technically known as Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), is adopted by other countries but its use should be made clear to the people who expect transparency in the implementation of projects which may include infrastructure and education-related services such as scholarship, Boncodin said.

But Boncodin said this noble constitutional intention has been violated by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo whom she accused of practicing the selective release of lump sum funds and PDAF – meaning only those close to Malacañang get the “pork barrel”.

The Senate minority bloc, led by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr., has time and again taken President Arroyo to task for her selective releases of pork barrel funds which totals about P7 billion, with each congressman supposedly getting P70 million per year and each senator getting P200 million annually.

The PDAF, Boncodin said, is an effective tool to cover contingencies and provides flexibility in operations, but it “suffers from general lack of transparency and abuse of discretion.”

There are, however, charges that some legislators profit financially from the PDAF supposedly by demanding cuts or commissions from contractors or suppliers.

Boncodin and other guest speakers expressed views on varied subjects and issues in Saturday’s public forum on “The Powers of the Presidency: Preventing Misuse and Abuse.”

The forum was organized by the International Center for Innovation, Transformation, and Excellence in Governance (InciteGov), in partnership with the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) and with the support of the National Endowment for Democracy. It was held at the AIM building in Makati City.

Apart from Boncodin, the other speakers were former Finance Secretary Ernest Leung, who discussed “Power over Fiscal Policy’’; former Civil Service Commission Chairman Karina Constantino David, “The Power of Appointment’’; and former National Defense Undersecretary Rodel A. Cruz, “The Power of the Commander-in-Chief.”

Boncodin, who resigned as budget secretary along with nine other Cabinet-ranked officials in 2005 in protest of Mrs. Arroyo’s style of leadership, said those in the Cabinet who cannot stand the heat should resign.

A Cabinet member, she said, must be stronger that the President because the Chief Executive is under constant pressure. “If you cannot follow orders,” you leave your post, she said.

Boncodin emphasized that transparency is the best bet for the cleaner implementation of the budget by the President and that the language of the budget must be clear to be understood by the common man, not a lot of technical jargon.

On fiscal issues, Leung complained that Philippine tax laws are so complex that it allows the rich or the favored few to pay taxes below the scheduled or appropriate amounts.

On a per capita basis, the average common man pay more taxes through the automatic income tax regime than corporate taxes, and that exemptions given have created windows of opportunity for taxpayers in the higher income bracket to avoid paying taxes, he said.

There then is a need for a major tax overhaul by making tax laws simple and bring down tax levels.

It is bruited about that Philippine revenues are among the lowest in the Southeast Asian region.

The Philippines, at present, has a total national debt of P4.5 trillion, compared to its 2010 national budget of P1.5 trillion.

On the presidential appointment issue, David said the present appointment system is warped in that the basis of some current appointments is loyalty above qualifications, political spoils over competence, and appointment as a reward.

David said that there is an excess of 81 undersecretaries and assistant secretaries which led to the politicization of the bureaucracy and undermining professionalization.

She tagged as ‘’calling card secretaries’’ and other designations (presidential advisers, consultants and assistants because they have the rank of secretary, have vague, sometimes. Duplicating and even comical titles ‘’blurring the lines of accountability.’’

She also described as “monobloc” secretaries appointed by Malacañang to various positions because the bureaucracy is bloated they have no official-looking chairs but monobloc chairs.

“There are a few laws that are necessary to remove the inconsistencies and lack of clarity that exist,” she said.

“But in the final analysis, it is the character of the President, his/her honest dedication to public service and not just to power, that will spell the difference between decency and judiciousness on one hand, and misuse and abuse on the other,’’ she explained.

She also took potshots at the bicameral Commission on Appointments (CA) which had allowed some Cabinet members to continue holding their positions despite their being bypassed several times. There are times a Cabinet member gets bypassed even if the CA’s committee has not even met.

Defense Secretary Avelino “Nonong” Cruz raised the alarm that there might be an internal rigging of the results of the automated May elections because the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has failed to put in safeguards that would automatically raise the alarm when rigging is taking place in the Comelec computers.