Senate minority bloc keeps distance from JV’s counter-SONA

MANILA, Philippines - With three senators jailed on plunder charges, a picture of a fragment political opposition became evident at the Senate yesterday after members of the minority bloc distanced themselves from the counter-State of the Nation Address (SONA) of Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito.

Senate acting minority leader Vicente Sotto III said Ejercito merely expressed his views about the Aquino administration and it does not necessarily mean that the entire minority group agrees with him.

“Personally, I do not see the need for me to deliver a contra-SONA,” Sotto said before the start of session.

He said Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile had declined writing a counter-SONA.

Enrile is detained for plunder charges along with Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr. in connection with the alleged misuse of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or congressional pork barrel.

Sotto said he does not have the statistics to counter the numbers presented by President Aquino in his SONA two weeks ago.

“Together with the other members of the minority, we felt that the President was sincere in what he said in his speech about wanting to move the nation to progress,” Sotto said.

According to Sotto, Ejercito’s speech came from the perspective of a member of the Senate although there were also some good points that he brought up.

“He has our support but the contents of his privilege speech did not come from us,” Sotto said.

Anybody from the minority can deliver a counter-SONA, he said.

Government lapses

In his speech, Ejercito outlined the lapses in the economic and peace and order programs of the Aquino administration.

Ejercito dwelt on worsening traffic conditions, rising cost of basic commodities, agriculture and smuggling, power crisis, high poverty incidence, unemployment and the plight of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

He also raised concerns on the Aquino administration’s conditional cash transfer program and cited the continuing rebellion in Mindanao despite the proposed creation of the Bangsamoro Law.

Angara’s contention

In response, Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara cited the economic gains of the administration during the first few years of President Aquino’s six-year term.

Angara noted that there has been a substantial increase in employment today compared to the past administrations.

Angara, a member of the Senate majority bloc, also put on record that the debt to GDP ratio this year is at 14 percent, the lowest in recent years.

Angara said about 4 million families have become beneficiaries of the CCT program.

Sen. Cynthia Villar, for her part, manifested that the Sugar Industry Fund bill is ready for plenary debates to overcome challenges in the sugar industry.

Where are the documents?

Meanwhile, Sen. Nancy Binay yesterday said almost three weeks have passed since the Senate conducted its inquiry into the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) still has not complied with the demand of some senators for documents related to the controversial program.

Binay, who has been critical of the DAP, asked for various documents from Budget Secretary Florencio Abad during the hearing, all of which were related to questions she had raised.

Binay wrote Senate committee on finance chairman Sen. Francis Escudero to follow up her request for the documents.

Among these was the detailed listing of sources of savings amounting to P237 billion used to fund DAP projects and other projects not included in DAP, including, but not limited to, Special Allotment Release Orders (SAROs), notice of cash allocations, letters and correspondences between the DBM and government agencies relating to public funds withdrawn from and released to a particular government agency.

Binay also sought a listing of projects similar to the purchase of precinct count optical scan machines by the Commission on Elections, which are not included in the DAP but obtained funding through savings amounting to P93 billion.

Details of DAP projects in 2011 amounting to P83.53 billion, 2012 in the amount of P58.70 billion, and 2013 worth P15.13 billion as indicated in the DBM DAP Frequently Asked Questions were posted on DBM’s website.

Binay noted that there were discrepancies between the amounts stated in the DAP FAQs and list of DAP projects, although both documents were prepared and released by DBM.

She also sought a list of Department of Health projects and research recommended for funding through DAP and a copy of the research paper on stem cell submitted to the DOH which was published internationally.

“Consistent with my commitment to ensure that public funds are spent in accordance with the Constitution and appropriations law, it is imperative that the DBM provide the documents I previously requested,” Binay said in her letter.

“It is the right of the people to find out where the taxes are used by the government. Hopefully, this won’t be the end of our efforts to find out the truth behind the DAP,” she added.

Sen. Grace Poe has also demanded submission of several documents from the DBM related to DAP, which she said has not yet been submitted.

Last Aug. 6, Poe’s office also asked the DBM to submit a copy of the SARO and other relevant documents with regard to DAP funds released to the province of Quezon.  – With Marvin Sy