CA: Abad liable for misconduct in fund disbursement

MANILA, Philippines — The Court of Appeals (CA) has affirmed its previous decision that held former budget secretary Florencio Abad liable for simple misconduct over the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), parts of which were declared illegal by the Supreme Court (SC). 

In a four-page resolution dated Nov. 25, CA Associate Justice Zenaida Galapate-Laguilles said the court found no reason to revert their previous decision after Abad failed to present new arguments in his motion for reconsideration. 

Associate justices Mario Lopez and Gabriel Robeniol concurred with the decision. 

“After a review of the grounds relied upon by the petitioner, this court finds no compelling reason to amend our decision as the issues raised have already been resolved and covered extensively in the assailed resolution,” Laguilles said. 

Laguilles reiterated their previous findings, which stated that Abad had intruded on the powers of Congress by effectively modifying the provisions on savings in the General Appropriations Act of 2012 when he issued National Budget Circular No. 541. 

The National Budget Circular No. 541 consolidated savings or unutilized balances and withdrew unobligated balances of agencies with low levels of obligation. The SC has declared some parts of the DAP as unconstitutional.