Chiz defends Noy on DAP

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Francis "Chiz" Escudero on Thursday downplayed fears that President Aquino's vocal expression of disappointment over the Supreme Court's decision on the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) may cause a constitutional crisis.

The senator also took the side of President Aquino amid the reported widening gap between his allies in Malacanang.

Escudero rejected the claims of Sen. Sergio Osmena III that the President had become so hard-headed that he will not abide by the high court's ruling.

"I don't believe in that," Escudero said, adding that the President merely expressed frustration over the delay in the implementation of government projects.

Osmena lashed out at President Aquino for insisting that DAP was legal. He described Aquino for being "true to form" for his stubborness and hard-headedness.

He said that publicly contradicting the high court's ruling is not an indication that the President will defy the order.

"He is asking for supplemental budget. Isn't it a  clear manifestation that he will comply?," the senator asked.

The President also made known the government's intent to file a motion for reconsideration, Escudero noted.

"All these talk about constitutional crisis, whoever said that, it is unfounded and exaggerated," he added.

Escudero and Osmena are allies of the President who supported the Noy-Bi tandem, with then Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay as their vice presidential bet in the 2010 elections.

The other faction included Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas III, who lost to Binay. Roxas belongs to the Liberal Party which counts Senate President Franklin Drilon and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad as partymates.

Sought for comment regarding former senator Joker Arroyo's statement that the chief executive had virtually declared war against the judiciary, Escudero said the President only wanted to do what is right under the circumstances.

"What is right is right, what is wrong is wrong," said Escudero, referring to the issue of Judicial Development Fund (JDF).

Escudero said the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is not singling out the SC justices since senators and Senate employees were also slapped with higher tax rates regarding other allowances and additional bonuses.

"The BIR also went after us. What makes them special simply because the SC made a ruling. We were also under attack, which is why three (colleagues) were detained," he said, noting that Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Ramon Revilla Jr and Juan Ponce Enrile were jailed after they were implicated in the pork barrel fund misuse.

"We should stop being alarmists, it is not helping the situation," Escudero added.

Escudero also defended efforts in the House of Representatives focus on the JDF. He said the use of JDF has long been questioned by lawmakers, not only now.

The senator said he has filed a similar measure when he was still a congressman.

He pointed out that during the time of former chief justice Hilario Davide, the JDF was not touched.

The situation was not the same in the term of other chief justices who spent the JDF and cited fiscal autonomy as justification to do so, the senator added.