IT WAS FORMER SPEAKER Jose de Venecia who once said that the key to winning the Speakership of the House of Representatives was a person’s ability to keep members of Congress happy. Of course, with generous portions of pork.
The same still holds true more than a decade later, as the pork barrel funds remain the key ingredient in getting legislators reelected, keeping ruling parties stocked and packed with members old and new, getting allied parties to toe the line, and building coalitions of convenience.
In the third part of the PCIJ series on Pork a la PNoy, we look at how the pork barrel system has help craft, some say warp, the political party system, and how even the minions of Malacanang, despite the catchy slogan of Tuwid na Daan, still see the need to pave the road with pork.
Read Part 3 of the series: