COA starts audit on extra 'pork'

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Audit has  started the investigation on the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) of President Benigno Aquino III.

COA chairman Gracia Pulido Tan said the investigation of the DAP will start with data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

"Ang unang takeoff point namin d'yan ay DBM. Magkano ang total DAP na ni-release, kanino ni-release? [Kapag sinabi] sa ahensyang ito,  then pupuntahan namin ang ahensya. Paano naman ginamit ito ahensya? So, that's the process," Tan said in a television interview Tuesday.

DAP, though technically not part of the Priority Development Assistance Funds or pork barrel,  is an allocation gathered from savings of government agencies reportedly allotted to lawmakers as reward following the ouster of Chief Justice Renato Corona in 2012.

"Paanong nagkaroon tayo ng savings, ang laki naman ng deficit natin?" Tan asked, citing data that DAP funds reached P72 billion when it was first created in 2011 alone.

Related story: Hunt on for hidden 'pork'

Tan said  state auditors have to explore the legal basis of creating the funds and whether or not it had to first be approved by Congress before Aquino granted the lump sums.

"Ano ang legal na basis ng pag-create ng pondong ito? ... Kasi ang gawain ng Kongreso, siya ang nag-a-approve ng pag-allocate ng pera," Tan said.

Former National Treasurer Leonor Briones, meanwhile, earlier said that a special audit on the DAP should be conducted.

"Clearly, it is pork. By definition and tradition and international language, pork is given to legislator. Is it correct? No because it is pointed out that their function is to create laws not implement projects," Briones said in an interview on ABS-CBN, adding that the DAP should be considered another form of pork barrel.

"Is there an executive order? Is there a provision in the Constitution which legitimizes the creation? I also have more questions, the answers should come from the DBM and the Executive," she said.