MANILA - Two business leaders on Monday weighed in on the Million People March against the pork barrel system. In an interview on ANC, Rafael Alunan, vice president of the Management Association of the Philippines, said the difference between the protest against corruption then and now is that in the past, it centered on kickbacks. "Today, we're talking about ghost projects where the entire amount of 100 percent is not spent at all on the project but goes to dirty pockets," Alunan said. Peter Perfecto, executive director of the Makati Business Club, said the very detailed Commission on Audit report made concrete the extent of corruption via the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF). "Before haka-haka lang. But now we have actual figures. That makes the big difference," Perfecto said. Alunan said the pork barrel scam enrages taxpayers. "We've been having this integrity pledge, trying to encourage companies to pay the proper taxes. The employees are regularly, religiously paying taxes and all of a sudden, they find that their money is being misappropriated for dirty pockets and these are huge amounts. "People are saying this has gone beyond a mere political corruption issue. This is now a moral issue. It's a raging inferno and I think it's time for us to put a stop to it," Alunan said. - NewsNow, ANC, August 26, 2013
