Lawmaker bares P412 M DAP-like diversion at DAR

MANILA, Philippines - A party-list representative exposed yesterday what he described as a diversion of P412.5 million by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) similar to the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

During a House appropriations committee budget hearing, Rep. Antonio Tinio of party-list group Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) confronted Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio delos Reyes with a letter the department sent to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) last June requesting for the “recalibration” of funds.

Tinio said the letter, dated June 10, 2014 and signed by Undersecretary Felix Villanueva, shows that DAR wanted to realign the funds for activities “that are not funded under the GAA (General Appropriations Act or the national budget).”

“These are the words of your undersecretary. How can you use funds for activities that are not specified in the national budget law?” he asked.

“This is similar to DAP, under which savings were used for projects, activities and programs that are not in the GAA,” he said.

Palace officials have consistently claimed that DAP funds were used to augment existing appropriations specified in the budget.

Delos Reyes acknowledged that they might have erred in describing the activities to be funded from the funds that they wanted to realign.

He said the appropriations were for “land tenure improvement services” and were transferred from the DAR regional offices to the central office.

He said the DBM has already approved the realignment.

Negros Oriental Rep. Pryde Henry Teves, who was presiding over the hearing as appropriations committee vice chairman, said he has examined the transfer.

“It was funding for MOOE (maintenance and other operating expenses) from the regions to MOOE of the DAR central office. There is no violation of law or the Constitution there, unlike if you move MOOE to PS (personal services, the budget language for salaries) or PS to MOOE,” he said.

Still, Tinio insisted that based on its own letter-request, DAR “committed technical malversation of public funds and violated the law and the Constitution.”

To further clarify matters, Teves scheduled a meeting next week among Tinio, Delos Reyes and a DBM representative.

During the hearing, Delos Reyes denied the claim of Tinio that DAP funds were used to pay the owners of Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac, which the Supreme Court had ordered distributed to its tenant-tillers.

The owners of the sugar plantation belong to the Cojuangco side of President Aquino’s family.

Delos Reyes also assured the congressmen that no DAP funds were used to pay the owners of Hacienda Luisita.

He said the more than P400 million that has already been paid to owners of Hacienda Luisita came from appropriations set aside by Congress for compensation to landowners whose landholdings have been covered by the agrarian reform program.

He said the DAR has more than P7 billion for compensating landowners.

Meanwhile, Sen. Grace Poe reiterated yesterday her call to Budget Secretary Florencio Abad to provide the Senate with copies of the special allotment release orders (SAROs) in relation to the release of over P1 billion in funds to Quezon province.

Poe expressed disappointment that the DBM has not obliged her request for copies of the SAROs.

“Per the secretary of the Senate committee on finance, Ma. Isabelita Robles, she has not received yet dossiers on the same,” Poe said. – With Christina Mendez