94 Chasing the Wind: Assessing Philippine Democracy, Second Edition According to Maceda, “the accepted practice is for the pork barrel sponsor to designate the contractor in a rigged bidding procedure”. The sponsor of the project is expected to receive “kickback” or “tongpats” from the contractor ranging from 20% to 30% of the total project cost. “Walang tuwid na daan dito” (no straight path here), Maceda concludes. The modus operandi for “soft projects” is different. Benhur Luy, the whistle blower in the Congressional pork barrel scam orchestrated by Janet Lim Napoles, described another modus operandi for the “soft projects” under the Priority Development Assistance Project (PDAP) of legislators. These are noninfrastructure projects like training, scholarship, and livelihood projects. Agents of Napoles inquire with the prospective lawmaker-beneciary if s/he is willing to connive with Napoles and how much is the lawmaker's preferred share of the project cost. Fifty percent of the agreed share of the lawmaker is delivered in cash after s/he endorses the bogus foundations of Napoles as the beneciary of the project. This endorsement also initiates the process of releasing the fund for the project through the Department of Budget and Management. The other half of the lawmaker's share is delivered upon the release of the funds to the bogus foundation. Three prominent political allies of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, and Ramon Bong Revilla, Jr.) are facing trial in the Sandigang Bayan for plunder allegedly through this scheme. The scandalous “Fertilizer Scam” is another instance where the executive power to execute the budget had been abused. The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) bared the huge disbursements of the Department of Agriculture shortly before the May 2004 elections. The Center alleged the funds were supposed to be fertilizer subsidies for farmers but were actually diverted to the political allies of President Arroyo because the supposed beneciaries complained that they did not receive the subsidy from the Department of Agriculture (Center for Investigative Journalism cited in the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food Report). The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee and the Committee on Agriculture conducted an investigation to get into the bottom of what is now called the Fertilizer Scam. The Senate issued subpoenas to public ofcials implicated in the scandal. Private individuals, in their capacity as ofcers of corporations implicated in the scam, were also invited to the public hearings. The Senate report states that the administration raised funds for the election campaign by illegally diverting the Department of Agriculture's fertilizer subsidies to the farmers. This sizeable fund of about P728 million was disbursed to the national and local elective ofcials who composed the political coalition of the administration. In addition to the appropriated funds, the President also has authority over ofcial development assistance. The National Broadband Project to be nanced by the government of the People's Republic of China is another instance of the employment of delegative authority. The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee could have very well described accurately the denition of delegative authority. In its