MANILA, Philippines - Lawmakers will no longer get additional funds under the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).
Savings in the third quarter that would have funded the DAP would be used instead to rehabilitate the ravaged Zamboanga City as well as assist victims of Typhoon Pablo, Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad said yesterday.
But Abad said they were standing by the constitutionality and legality of the DAP and would be ready to defend it before the Supreme Court.
“There is no reason to scrap it although for the third quarter of this year, there will be no more need for it because spending has accelerated,†Abad said over the phone.
Abad also stressed that only six to 14 percent of the DAP releases for 2012 went to legislators. The Palace said the money went directly to the departments implementing the projects nominated or listed by the lawmakers.
Recent savings will now go to the Calamity Fund to rebuild Zamboanga City, under siege for weeks by a faction of the Moro National Liberation Front loyal to Nur Misuari. Victims of Pablo, which struck in December 2012, will also get a share of DAP funds.
Earlier, President Aquino said an initial P3.89 billion would be released for Zamboanga City’s rehabilitation and that the government was ready to augment it.
Aside from providing relief assistance, Zamboanga City residents and Typhoon Pablo victims would be needing new houses complete with social services.
Last week, Abad said discretionary funds under the government’s DAP, ranging from P50 million to P100 million, were released to senators months after former chief justice Renato Corona was convicted by the Senate impeachment court. The releases, he said, were intended to pump prime the economy.
His statement came days after Sen. Jinggoy Estrada revealed in a privilege speech that P50 million in additional funds were released to senators who voted in favor of Corona’s conviction.
In an interview over GMA News’ 24 Oras Thursday night, Abad said the government might still disburse some P24.89 billion more for the rehabilitation of Zamboanga City and provinces devastated by Pablo.
Abad said P15.1 billion in funds for DAP had so far been spent this year for the rehabilitation of Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental and for the modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
He added the funds would also be used for the recapitalization of the central bank for the remainder of 2013 and for the rehabilitation of Roxas Boulevard in time for the World Economic Forum on East Asia in 2014 and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in 2015.
Legal question
Earlier, former Sen. Joker Arroyo said there was no enabling law for the release of DAP funds without Congress’ approval.
But Arroyo called this a misstep that should be discontinued and should not be used as justification for filing an impeachment case against President Aquino.
Aquino said DAP was based on provisions in the Constitution allowing the use of savings for other purposes.
He dared his critics to file an impeachment complaint against him.
Abad had earlier said that DAP releases were sourced from overall savings from the national government. These savings came from allotments for unfilled positions, unreleased funds from slow-moving projects, revenues generated beyond targets such as state firm dividends, terminated programs and unused allotments to agencies.
The Palace and Abad had also announced the suspension of DAP releases at the same time the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) for lawmakers was also withheld before it was “abolished†by Aquino.
The President likewise stressed there was no reason to consider the DAP releases as bribe because they were given months after the conviction of Corona.
Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga, for his part, called on members of the House of Representatives and the Senate who had received funds from DAP to account for their spending to remove any public misconception on the allocation.
Barzaga said DAP-funded projects were in all likelihood aboveboard but the people look at DAP as another pork barrel of President Aquino that had been used to bribe lawmakers.
“The President is not part of this controversy because the DAP is just a disbursement tool, and we must disabuse the minds of the people that they were misused,†Barzaga said.
“The disbursements start with a letter of request from a senator or a congressman, so we simply find out what are the projects funded, how much, and who is the implementing agency,†he said.
He suggested that those who first exposed the DAP should be the first to make an accounting of their project implementation.
Barzaga said any request to tap funds from the DAP should specify the nature of the project, its cost, as well as the implementing agency.
Once approved by Aquino or Abad, a Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) is issued. With that authorization, the implementing agency starts bidding for the project.
Barzaga, however, said the name of the requesting lawmaker is not mentioned in the SARO.
“I think an accounting of DAP projects will calm the people. Not unless some would be found in some bogus NGOs, but that’s the lookout of the implementing agencies. So let’s find out if there’s really project implementation,†he said.
Gabriela party-list Rep. Emmerenciana de Jesus said concrete actions, not tantrums, are needed by Aquino in dealing with pork scandals.
“Noynoy Aquino must stop play-acting like a brat, hurling dares and taunts at his perceived enemies. He must squarely face the people’s demands to end the curse of his pork barrel, instead of shifting all blame of government corruption on Gloria Arroyo,†De Jesus said.
The lawmaker cited Aquino’s dare to critics to have him impeached, and his insistence on retaining the DAP despite it being unconstitutional and illegal.
DAP for DSWD
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said it is not shy about getting funds from the DAP, confirming that the agency received P1.97 billion in 2011 from the DAP that was used to build day care centers and shelters for the homeless in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
The DSWD said the additional budget was given to the ARMM to augment social service programs such as the construction of day care centers, implement their Modified Shelter Assistance project, their Emergency Shelter Assistance project, and also conduct supplementary feeding.
Some of the funds were also used for sustainable livelihood programs and cash-for-work projects.
Of the P1.97 billion, more than P1.6 billion was released to both the AFP Engineering Brigade (AFP-EB) as implementing partner and to DSWD-ARMM from December 2011 to December 2012 for the implementation of the projects.
On the other hand, of the remaining balance of P331,762,868 some P309,350,000 was allotted for the Sustainable Livelihood Program. The amount of P22,412,868 was incurred as savings and was reverted back to the National Treasury.
To date, more than P1.062 billion has been liquidated by the DSWD-ARMM and AFP-EB of the total P1.63 billion program funds released.
The DSWD reported that a recent progress report on the day care center construction program showed that of the 1,100 day care centers targeted to be constructed, 784 centers are completed, 283 centers are still under construction, and 33 are yet to be constructed.
On shelter construction, of the 1,000 target units, 770 shelters are already built while 230 units are under construction.
The DSWD-ARMM hopes to complete the construction of day care centers and core shelter units by December 2013.
For the Supplementary Feeding program, 170,000 children completed the 120 feeding days program out of the target 200,000 children.
On the provision of Emergency Shelter Assistance, 1,476 flood-affected families in the province of Maguindanao already availed of the assistance at P10,000 each.
They are from the municipalities of Datu Piang, Mangudadatu, Kabuntalan, Raja Buayan, Paglat, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Datu Montawal, and Sultan sa Barongis.
Likewise, of the 62,335 Sets 1 and 2 beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program in the region who are targeted to avail of P10,000 each under the Sustainable Livelihood Program, a total of 31,400 beneficiaries already received their assistance.
The Cash-for-Work, on the other hand, also benefited 18,900 people receiving P174 per day for ten days in exchange for rendering community work that include disaster mitigation, rehabilitation, and hunger mitigation projects.
Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said that the DAP additional allotment was used for line item projects such as the provision of technical assistance and resource augmentation to ARMM, and these are within the mandate of the DSWD.
Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares took the DBM to task for still not being able to explain what happened to the P475 million that the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) returned in December 2011.
Colmenares said the DBM coursed the amount to the DAR but the latter returned it, saying it had not requested the funds and did not know what it was for.
“It has been more than a month since I asked for a formal explanation as well as the pertinent documents from DBM Secretary Florencio Abad during the budget hearings of the Committee on Appropriations, but I have not heard from him,†he said.
Well accounted for
The Department of Energy (DOE), for its part, said the bulk of its funds secured under DAP went to rural electrification.
“In light of the issues concerning the nation’s coffers, the DOE upholds the legitimacy of the government’s DAP, as it aims to fast-track the implementation of high impact projects to further the country’s economic growth,†DOE said in a statement.
It said the Sitio Electrification Program of the National Electrification Administration received an estimated P1.5 billion from February 2012 to January 2013 for line connection and enhancement projects. More than 2,200 sitios or towns nationwide benefited from the project.
“We remain with our mandate and that all disbursements are well-accounted for,†it said.
In Bacolod City, Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) chairman Daniel Lacson Jr. belittled moves by some quarters to have President Aquino impeached or prosecuted for plunder.
The militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas on Wednesday filed a plunder case with the Office of the Ombudsman against the President and several others in connection with alleged abuses in the use of PDAF.
“That is part of the usual reactions coming from certain groups, I don’t see any value in that,†Lacson said, referring to threats to impeach the President and prosecute him for plunder.
The public, he said, should be wary about the sprouting of false allegations against the administration as many politicians have begun their demolition jobs in preparation for the 2016 elections.
“This makes you feel bad that people cannot appreciate the good things happening to our country,†Lacson said, adding that the Philippine economy has emerged as one of the fastest growing in the region under the administration.
“A growth rate of seven percent is something really fantastic, yet you still have people who cannot see that,†he said. With Paolo Romero, Rainier Allan Ronda, Donnabelle Gatdula, Danny Dangcalan