MALOLOS CITY—A ranking official of a Bulacan- based non-governmental organization (NGO) confirmed on Monday receipt of P145 million from the pork barrel funds of Senators Gregorio Honasan and Lito Lapid.
However, the NGO official insisted they are a legitimate organization that submits regular liquidation reports to Philippine Forest Corporation (PhilForest). Salvador Gaerlan, a 63-year old former government employee and president of the Focus on Development Goals Foundation (FDGF), admitted to Radyo Bulacan that they received P145 million in pork barrel funds from 2010 to 2012.
Gaerlan even confirmed that P140 million of said funds came from Senator Honasan, while the P5 million came from Senator Lapid.
The said funds were coursed through Phil- Forest and were implemented in the provinces of Pangasinan, La Union, Ilocos Sur and Batangas.
In a phone patch interview with Radyo Bulacan, Gaerlan claimed that he had to go back to Pangasinan tomorrow to revalidate the implementation of their projects.
He did not cite specific location where the projects are being implemented. “We are a legitimate organization and we serve as an implementing arm of the PhilForest,” he said in the vernacular.
He also said that the pork barrel funds used in their projects were given in three tranches starting in 2010.
Gaerlan claimed to have worked as contractual employee of the Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of the Agriculture, and with the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPPAP).
He also claimed to have worked with the National Reconciliation Program under the late President Corazon Aquino. As former government employee, Gaerlan said he saw the missing link between government programs and their implementation in the lack of access of beneficiaries to government funds.
This situation led him to establish FDGF in 2009 to serve as an implementing arm of Phil- Forest. FDGF has a satellite office in Barangay San Juan in San Miguel town. Its main office is located in Quezon City.
Gaerlan explained that they established a satellite office in their house because it is closer to where they source their materials like seeds and organic fertilizers. FDGF is one of the 11 NGOs identifi ed in recent reports that received multi-million pork barrel funds from senators. With regards to abolition of pork barrel, Gaerlan expressed lament noting that marginalized sector especially farmers will suffer the most.
When asked if he is willing to testify before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, Gaerlan said yes.
However, he expressed concern that invitation to the said investigation is not just an invitation, insinuating that those invited are apprehensive on the invitation.
