Enrile said it is but proper that Binay get additional budget – on top of the P177 million appropriated for his office – since he is the number two man in government.

Enrile, however, described the additional P200 million as an “augmentation fund,” not pork barrel, also known as the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) among senators and congressmen.

“It is just proper that the Vice President should have this fund. If the senators and congressmen have this fund, then why deny the Vice President this privilege, he is just a hair’s breath away from the presidency,” Enrile said.

Enrile said he sought for the augmentation of the Vice President’s fund.

“I was the one who asked for the augmentation of the budget of the vice president not in the form of pork barrel. It was just an augmentation. He’s the No. 2 man. He represents the sovereign people. His office is created by the Constitution. He represents the Republic of the Philippines next to the President. We are not in a monarchic position. But he is in effect in the position of a crown prince,” he said.

Senate finance committee chairman Sen. Franklin Drilon, who oversaw the deliberations and scrutiny of the P1.6-trillion budget for next year, confirmed in an earlier interview that it was Binay himself who sought P500 million in PDAF.

Drilon said only P200 million was approved during deliberations, apparently after consultations with President Aquino who consented that his supposed P200-million PDAF as senator should be realigned to Binay.

Reports said it was the Senate panel that suggested Binay should be given P200 million in pork barrel funds that would be taken from the P24.8-billion PDAF of members of Congress.

Enrile claimed he was the one who suggested the additional budget for Binay, also the concurrent chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC).

Christina Mendez, Philippine Star