Palace on DAP: Let’s wait for COA findings

MANILA, Philippines – Amid questions regarding the constitutionality of the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), Malacañang said Sunday, October 13 it would be best to wait for the results of the ongoing Commission on Audit (COA) probe into DAP’s usage and legality.  

“I understand that COA has already been—is already in the process of auditing projects that were identified under the DAP mechanism, so let’s wait for the results of the audit that is being conducted by COA,” Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said in an interview over DZRB. 

According to an Inquirer report, 6 senators, including Alan Peter Cayetano, Sergio Osmeña III, Ralph Recto, Teofisto Guingona III and former senator Francis Pangilinan, each asked Sen Franklin Drilon, then head of the Senate Committee on Finance, for P100 million to fund their pet projects. 

Before reforms to lawmakers’ funds were introduced in the 2014 national budget, each senator also received P200 million worth of Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), which has been the subject of much controversy recently. 

Malacañang maintained there is nothing irregular about awarding extra lump sum funds to lawmakers from DAP, the government’s so-called economic booster program. 

“And so far, at least at face value, you could see that they identified projects that fell under the implementing agencies and there are local [projects] and as far as I know, there were no NGOs mentioned, at least for the six, that were reported today,” Valte said. 

Non-government organizations (NGOs) are at the center of controversy over the PDAF or pork barrel scam after whistleblowers and a subsequent COA report exposed how NGOs were used to launder lawmakers’ funds. (INFOGRAPHIC: Pork barrel trail – how gov’t funds end with Napoles)

In 2011, the government created DAP to ramp up spending and boost the economy.  

Unlike PDAF, DAP was off the radar of the public until Sen Jinggoy Estrada revealed in a privilege speech that senators who voted for the impeachment of former chief justice Renato Corona were given P50 million. 

Sen Miriam Defensor Santiago, one of the senators who opposed Corona’s impeachment, asked COA Chair Grace Pulido Tan for a legal explanation on giving “special treatment” to certain senators. 

She also requested for a detailed list of projects for which members of Congress disbursed their DAP. (READ: Miriam to Palace: Playing favorites is against Constitution)

Malacañang as well as its allies in Congress have repeatedly defended the legality of DAP. 

In a statement Sunday, Drilon said realigning funds through DAP is founded on the power of the President to realign funds.

“This power to realign funds has been exercised by all past presidents, chief justices, Comelec chairmen, etc. The funds are not realigned to the legislature, but from one budget item to another in the same branch,” Drilon said.

“What is prohibited is transfer of funds from one branch of government to another,” Drilon added.

DAP’s constitutionality has also been challenged before the Supreme Court. The first set of oral arguments for the government’s stimulus spending program will be heard on October 22. – Rappler.com