IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING that the pork barrel funds, those millions in taxpayer’s money that are appropriated for pet projects of your favorite legislators, are public funds that should be spent on public projects.
If that is so, we ask the question: Can public funds be used to build infrastructure projects on private property? In that case, who would own the infrastructure, and who would benefit from it?
The Commission on Audit found 54 projects funded with the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) from 2007-2009 that were built on private land. The COA said there were no documents to show that these lands had any way been converted to public property, meaning that someone still owns the land on which these government funds were spent.
For the answer to the question, and for a list of the legislators who poured their pork into private property, visit the PCIJ’s MoneyPolitics Online website, or click this direct link.