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MANILA, Philippines – Former Senator Edgardo Angara revealed on Wednesday, July 9, his projects funded under the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).
In October 2012, Angara reportedly received P50 million (around $1.1 million)* worth of funds under the Aquino administrations spending program, aspects of which were recently declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
Angara was senator until mid-2013. His former congressman son, Juan Edgardo Angara, was elected to the Senate after him.
In a statement, the older Angara said the amount went to 5 infrastructure projects, with all contracts awarded by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Three of the 5 projects went to provinces “in dire need of development funds and infra upgrading,” while the remaining 2 went to flood control and road widening projects in Quezon City.
Angara said all projects were satisfactorily completed, as reported by the DPWH.
| FORMER SENATOR EDGARDO ANGARA’S PROJECTS FUNDED THROUGH DAP | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Project | Location | Amount (in pesos) | Implementing Agency | |
| 1. Construction/ Opening of Minanga-Sitio Dlaya Road (Phase V) | Penablanca, Cagayan | P15 million | Cagayan 3rd Engineering District Office | |
| 2. Construction/Rehabilitation of Buluangan I-Tono-an Road | Bugasong, Antique | P10 million | Antique District Engineering Office | |
| 3. Rehabilitation of Pidipid-Benben FMR | Brgy. Pidipid, La Paz, Abra | P5 million | Abra District Engineering Office | |
| 4. Rehabilitation/Improvement of Regalado South (KM 18 +500 to Km. 20 +366) | Quezon City | P10 million | Quezon City First Engineering District | |
| 5. Widening and Construction of Drainage Kanlaon St. (Km. K7 + 019 to K7 + 840)(Intermittent) | Quezon City | P10 million | Quezon City First Engineering District | |
Angara’s DAP report came a day after Senator Pia Cayetano revealed her projects that utilized funds from the DAP.
Parts of the DAP, initiated by the Aquino administration in 2011 to address government under-spending and stimulate economic growth, were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on July 1. (TIMELINE: The rise and fall of DAP)
The DAP has been criticized because it went moved funds across agencies and branches of government without authority from Congress.
The President is empowered to utilize savings of executive agencies for other projects within the same agencies. In the case of DAP, however, allocations spelled out in the budget law were pulled out by the budget department when they were yet to become savings and used them for the projects of other agencies and branches of government, including the Senate.
President Benigno Aquino III maintains that the program was undertaken in good faith and that no funds were misused. (READ: 5 Malacañang arguments defending DAP) – Rappler.com
*$1 = P43.55
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