United Opposition (UNO) vice presidential candidate Jejomar Binay Sunday challenged the national government to publish the amount of Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) released to legislators to promote transparency and show that there was no favoritism in the disbursement of taxpayers’ money.

According to Binay, President Arroyo should direct the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to publish on its website the amount released to congressmen and senators to help their constituents in monitoring projects funded by PDAF or pork barrel.

Under the present administration, Binay claimed that “pork releases” have become a “state secret,” thus posting on the Internet all the pork disbursements is one step of “lifting the cloud of secrecy.”

“If the releases are overboard and legally justifiable then the Palace should not fear the publication of all data on pork releases. If you have nothing to hide, then bring them out in the open,” he said.

Binay cited that during the abbreviated tenure of President Estrada, his running mate in the UNO ticket, recalled that pork releases were always posted on the DBM website.

“President Erap also made sure that opposition congressmen hitting him daily then would still get their pork because he believed that if you deny them these funds you are not punishing them but the people they represent,” Binay said.

However, under the Arroyo administration, Binay claimed that Mrs. Arroyo changed the rules of the game, and not even caring “if a district will suffer for as long as its representative is denied of his budgetary entitlement.”

Binay explained that budgetary releases are supposed to be governed and guided solely by the General Appropriations Act. “But Mrs. Arroyo observed this more in breach than in compliance. She injected politics in fund releases,” Binay alleged. (with a report by Czarina Nicole O. Ong)