It appears Rep. Arlene “Kaka” Bag-ao’spublic relations team is running full throttle trying to portray the Akbayan legislator as a clean-as-a-whistle, non traditional politician who shuns Congress’ notorious pork barrel system.

Bag-ao, who was quietly “anointed” by House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte in October last year as “caretaker” of the congressional district of former Dinagat rep. Ruben Ecleo Jr., was quoted in media reports publicly professing that “if [she] had it her way, [she] would like the pork barrel abolished.”

Yet, Bag-ao had no scruples about taking and spending P137.4 million in pork barrel funds meant for Ecleo’s district in a span of less than a month. This amount is on top of the P59.5 million which Bag-ao received in 2012 for her projects as Akbayan representative, which she, in turn, allocated nationwide.

If Bag-ao truly finds the pork barrel system abhorrent, why didn’t she refuse her Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), or pork barrel entitlement, just as Senator Panfilo Lacson did when he returned some P200 million to the national treasury in December last year?

Last month, Lacson asked that his share of the PDAF for 2012 be made available to President Aquino for the latter’s anti-corruption campaign and “good governance advocacies.” Lacson, who repeatedly called for the abolition of the pork barrel, has refused to take his PDAF since being elected to the Senate in 2001. That’s putting his money where his mouth is.

Bag-ao’s actions, on the other hand, belie her public statements. She says one thing but does another. Now, isn’t that being a hypocrite?

But it isn’t only Bag-ao playing fast and loose with Ecleo’s pork barrel that has attracted criticism.

To our recollection, this is the first time in Congress’ history that a party-list legislator was appointed caretaker of a regular congressional district—and from a party-list closely identified with Malacañang at that. This is a break from the decades-old tradition of appointing a congressman’s kin or a regular congressman from an adjacent congressional district as caretaker of a vacant congressional post.

But what many people find crass and detestable is that the caretaker appointed for Dinagat’s congressional district is also running for Congress in the same district in the coming May 2013 elections. Which is why Bag-ao’s appointment leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Bag-ao could have either refused the appointment or put off her candidacy – if she had any delicadeza. Well, she clearly doesn’t have any.

Moreover, what makes Bag-ao’s appointment highly dubious is that, while she supposedly is the lone sitting member of Congress who hails from Dinagat, she never ran as congresswoman in Ecleo’s district before. It’s only now, after being appointed as caretaker, that Bag-ao is making a run for the Dinagat congressional seat. The timing certainly reeks of political opportunism.

Undeniably, her appointment as Dinagat’s caretaker coupled with her newly bestowed discretion over Ecleo’s pork barrel gives Bag-ao an undue advantage over her opponents. No wonder a lot of folks are referring to Bag-ao’s appointment as bantay salakay.

So where will Bag-ao spend a big chunk of Ecleo’s “pork” on?

The single biggest item in Bag-ao’s spending list is P21.175 million for the purchase of 77 units of multi-cab patrol vehicles costing P275,000 apiece. She spent another P9 million for the purchase of “six 4x4 utility vehicles costing P1.5 each and with an engine displacement of 2.5 liters,” the likes of which include Mitsubishi Montero, Toyota Hilux and Fortuner SUVs.

Curiously, the “lucky” beneficiaries of all these vehicles are the barangays in only one municipality in Dinagat: Tubajon. According to our sources, Tubajon is the bailiwick of Bag-ao.

Parrying criticisms on her costly purchase of SUVs, Bag-ao argues that the 4x4s are “not luxury vehicles.” It seems Akbayan’s representative believes a P1.5 million SUV can be easily bought by their poor constituents or by common employees. That or a P1.5 million SUV is not luxurious for Bag-ao’s taste.

And what is Bag-ao’s lame excuse for using up all of Ecleo’s “pork”? That “Dinagat has been deprived of development projects and has been severely neglected.”

So the question many Filipinos are now asking is: If Bag-ao had really been concerned about the welfare of her fellow Dinagatans, how much of her own pork barrel as Akbayan representative did she spend on Ecleo’s district since she sat in Congress in 2010 and before being a congressional candidate in Dinagat?

Not one centavo, DBM insiders say.

Obviously, Bag-ao’s newfound compassion for her kababayans came about only after she was appointed caretaker of the Dinagat congressional district and after she decided to run for the post vacated by Ecleo.

And she describes herself in her Twitter account as a “principled solon”? Shameless!

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