Aquino’s ancestor pushed to abolish pork

While President Benigno Aquino III does not want to abolish the pork barrel, now the subject of a scam involving alleged queen Janet Napoles, it was his great maternal grandfather who already said back in 1925 that the pork barrel was a violation of the rule on the power of the purse. The President should listen to his ancestor, said Rappler Thought Leaders writer Eric Gutierrez. In a speech by Sen Juan Sumulong, then the minority floor leader and leader of the opposition, he said ‘The power of the purse belongs to Congress, which is not allowed to increase the appropriations recommended by the President, although that rule is often violated as congressmen scramble to increase budget items for so-called pork barrel funds.” Juan Sumulong’s daughter Demetria was married to Don Pepe Cojuangco; Demetria and Don Pepe were the parents of Cory Aquino.


Read more on Rappler.