A LONG and malleable list of projects that could serve both the welfare of “indigent” families and the political stock of lawmakers is enrolled in Republic Act No. 10155, the General Appropriations Act of 2012. Its Section XLIV spells out the rules for the release of the Priority Development Assistance Fund:
Project selection:
Identification of projects and/or designation of beneficiaries “shall conform to the priority list, standard or design prepared by each implementing agency… preference shall be given to projects located in the 4th to 6th class municipalities or indigents identified under the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction by the DSWD. For this purpose, the implementing agency shall submit to Congress said priority list, standard or design within ninety (90) days from effectivity of this Act.”
‘Menu’ of priority projects:
- Education Scholarships, Sportsfest/Sports Tournament Purchase of IT Equipment Assistance to the Alternative Learning System (ALS) Program; List of requirements: Estimated number of scholars and name of recipient schools Name of recipient SUC, name of sports tournament and type of assistance, Specifications and number of equipment (limited to hardware component which should be preferably purchased through the Procurement Service) and name of recipient schools, Specific type of ALS Program and approximate number of beneficiaries
- Health Assistance to indigent patients either confined or out-patients in hospitals under DOH and Specialty Hospitals including Professional Fees if favorably endorsed by proponent-legislator, Purchase of Medical Equipment, Insurance Premium; List of Requirements: Type and number of equipment, and name of recipient DOH or Specialty Hospital, Indicate if national or local counterpart; estimated number of indigent beneficiaries, Reduction of Infant Mortality and under-five Mortality, and Improvement of Maternal Health and Reduction of Maternal Mortality
- Livelihood Small & Medium Enterprise/Livelihood, Specialty Training/Employment Program including acquisition of training supplies or equipment, Comprehensive Integrated Delivery of Social Services (may be used as LGU counterpart for foreign-assisted projects or FAPs)
- Social Services, Assistance to Indigents or Displaced Families/ victims of calamities
- Electrification Barangay/Sitio Electrification
- Water Supply — Construction of Water System, Purchase/Installation of Pipes/Pumps/Tanks, and Water Supply System Development for Local Water Districts, Septage and sewerage project in accordance with the national sewerage and septage management program
- Public Infrastructure — Construction, repair and/or rehabilitation of the following: Roads and bridges, Flood Control School Buildings and other School Facilities Hospitals and Health Facilities, Public Markets/Multi-Purpose Buildings/ Multi-Purpose Pavements, Pathways and Footbridges, Academic Buildings of Community Colleges administered or managed by LGUs, School Fences and Stages
- Irrigation — Construction, repair, and/or rehabilitation of irrigation facilities, and projects within the priority production areas identified by the DA
- Farm to Market Roads identified in the network plan and following the new construction design Small Water Impounding Projects/Shallow Tube Wells/Small Farm Reservoir
- Peace and Order — Purchase of the following: Firetrucks and firefighting equipment, patrol/multipurpose vehicles, multicabs and prisoner's vans, police patrol equipment, construction and repair of police, jail, and fire stations. Brief description of the project identified by the community and specific location
- Housing — Construction of housing units for eligible beneficiaries
- Arts and culture — Rehabilitation, preservation, and conservation of historical and heritage sites
Assistance to LGUs:
If PDAF is to be used as LGU counterpart for FAPs, name of FAP and copy of grant or loan agreement, type of assistance/services to be rendered, name of recipient LGU, certification from the NEA on the list of barangays or sitios needed to be energized, and estimated cost of energizing a barangay or sitio. Scope of work/type of equipment, location, and estimated cost
Legislator's Allocation:
- For Congressional District or Party-list Representative: Thirty Million Pesos (P30,000,000) for soft programs and projects and Forty Million Pesos (P40,000,000) for infrastructure projects (Total: P70 million per year per congressman)
- For Senators: One Hundred Million (P100,000,000) for soft programs and One Hundred Million (P100,000,000) for infrastructure projects (Total: P200 million per year per senator)
Release of Funds:
Subject to the approved fiscal program for the year and compliance with the applicable special provisions on the use and release of this fund, only fifty percent (50%) of the foregoing amounts may be released in the first semester and the remaining fifty percent (50%) in the second semester. Funds shall be released to the implementing agencies.
Quick Response Fund:
Ten percent of the PDAF “may be utilized, upon the option of the representative concerned, as a Quick Response Fund (QRF) for immediate response to calamities occurring within the fiscal year in the congressional district of the availing representative. The subject QRF shall be released at the start of the fiscal year to the LGU, DSWD or DPWH district engineering office… upon the written request of the availing representative.” The QRF “shall be exclusively utilized for relief operations, assistance to victims of calamities and rehabilitation of damaged infrastructure as a result of calamities. Any balance in the QRF at the end of December of the fiscal year may be realigned to qualified PDAF projects.”