Leyte Samar Daily Express
TACLOBAN CITY – Biliran Rep. Rogelio Espina said that he would submit to the Department of Budget and Management the list of programs and projects that would be funded of his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) next week.
Espina made this announcement through his Facebook account, saying that the second tranche of his PDAF, which is also known as “pork barrel,” will be channeled to various soft and hard infrastructure projects for the entire province of Biliran.
Espina, who was reelected for another term during the recently-held May 13,2013 elections, said that of the P35 million that would be released for the second tranche of his P70 million PDAF, P15 million would go to various soft projects and programs while the remaining P20 million would be used for infrastructure projects.
But while Espina enumerated the “soft programs” that would be funded by his pork barrel, he has yet to identify the projects that would be funded under the hard infrastructures category.
The P15 million would go to the various schools of the province, medical and burial assistance, health-related programs and livelihood assistance to fishermen and farmers.
Of this amount, P6.8 million would go to Espina’s scholarship programs in big colleges of the province like the Naval State University. The scholarship fund of the solon would benefit 1,479 students.
He also allocated P1 million for “food assistance”; another P1 million for medical missions while another P2 million would be used by his pork barrel for various assistance like burial, health care program and wheelchair distribution.
Under his PDAF, P1.5 million will be allocated by Espina for different livelihood programs for farmers and fishermen across the province.
About P400,000 was also allocated by the Biliran solon for the procurement of electric fans to be distributed to various public schools in the province.
Various public hospitals here in the region and even those based in Manila as well as the Department of Social Welfare and Development(DSWD) were also given allocation by Espina’s pork barrel.
Espina has allocated P1.3 million to the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC) as well as the National Kidney Institute, Philippine General Hospital and the DSWD in Manila.
But Espina said that he has yet to determine what infrastructure projects he would fund by his pork barrel.
“I still have to prioritize various request for infrastructure in different barangays before I can come up with the final list for the 20M hard PDAF,” Espina explained.
Meantime, Espina also announced that he had just filed House Bill 1120 seeking for the construction of a seaport in Barangay Mabini, Higatangan Island in Naval town, the provincial capital.(JOEY A. GABIETA)