Can DAP recipients impeach Noy?

MANILA, Philippines - How can members of the House of Representatives who received funds under the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) muster the will to impeach President Aquino?

For Malacañang, there is no need to subject House members to a loyalty check especially if they themselves acknowledge the benefits derived from DAP.

“If you look at the beneficial effects of DAP, how it has profited and benefited the people, what – do you think a loyalty check is needed?” Lacierda said.

Marcos-loyalist lawyer Oliver Lozano and former congressman and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority chief Augusto Syjuco Jr. earlier filed impeachment complaints against Aquino one after the other.

“Well, Mr. Boboy Syjuco has been filing cases left and right. So it’s just one of his actions. It will depend on how the House of Representatives will take care of it. It’s beyond us to comment on that,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a press briefing. The House consigned Syjuco’s complaint to the records after it received no endorsement from congressmen.

Lacierda said what Syjuco and Lozano did was their business.

He added they would let the congressmen speak for themselves regarding any complaint against the President.

Based on previous reports, House members received DAP amounting to P10 million to P25 million during the impeachment trial of then chief justice Renato Corona in 2012 while senators got P50 million to P99 million after the trial and conviction of the magistrate.

Orphan complaint

At the House of Representatives, Syjuco’s impeachment complaint ended up as an “orphan” and consigned to the records section after no one came forward to endorse it.

A complaint needs the endorsement of at least one House member for it to be acted upon.

Syjuco filed the complaint along with 19 other private citizens.

It is based largely on the Supreme Court’s decision declaring DAP as unconstitutional and on Aquino’s alleged use of the PDAF to gain the political support of senators and congressmen. The SC had earlier also declared the PDAF unconstitutional.

Syjuco told reporters that he had asked members of the Makabayan bloc to endorse their “citizens’ complaint” but was told that the group was waiting for another case to be filed by its ally Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan).

He said he called Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez and Rep. Lito Atienza of party-list group Buhay, but the two are currently abroad.

Romualdez and Atienza belong to the so-called independent bloc.

“Anyway, my complaint is with the records section and any interested House member can endorse it. If no one does, it’s okay with me, at least I have done my duty,” Syjuco said.

He said the chamber he had served cannot act on any endorsed complaint until July 28, when Congress begins its second regular session.

In his complaint, Syjuco charged Aquino with alleged bribery, betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution in connection with DAP and PDAF.

He said the President committed all those impeachable offenses by “bribing” senators and congressmen with billions in PDAF and DAP funds.

Last week, Lozano sent Rep. Terry Ridon of party-list group Kabataan an impeachment complaint against Aquino, but Ridon said he would not endorse it.

In the past, the House returned complaints that did not have a congressman-endorser.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. had made clear the House won’t impeach the President.

Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III said, “Why would we impeach a highly popular President?”

Liable

But even if the president is not impeached, he can still be made to answer for alleged anomalies in DAP after his term, according to former Senate president Aquilino Pimentel Jr.

He said the SC decision meant that the government cannot continue using DAP since it is unconstitutional.

“But in terms of accountability, masisingil si Noynoy dyan (Noynoy will become answerable) after his term is over because you cannot sue a president while he’s sitting,” he said.
“The rationale is so that he will not be prevented to discharge his duties by being diverted by so many cases,” Pimentel said.

He said Budget Secretary Florencio Abad would also have to face the consequences of his actions related to the implementation of the DAP.

Abad should be able to account for every centavo released through DAP, Pimentel said, adding that a separate accounting would have to be made on recipients of the funds.

Pimentel said the public should help authorities determine if funds released through DAP had been properly used.

Meanwhile, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said it’s not for the Church to issue statements of support for or disapproval of impeachment moves against Aquino.

“With regard to the impeachment, let us return to our role as bishops. We are not social-political troublemakers. We are conscience troublemakers. So it is for us to form consciences so that political, social decisions will be made from the point of view of ethics and morality,” Villegas said at the conclusion of the 109th CBCP plenary assembly.

He said legislators should ask themselves the following questions before deciding on whether to impeach Aquino or not.

“To answer the question, I will ask you: Will an impeachment process be helpful for the Philippines right now? Will an impeachment process be helpful in alleviating the situation of the poor right now? Will it contribute to reaching out to the children and to the youth as they become more productive citizens of the future in the Philippines,” the CBCP president said.

“So if this action of impeachment will promote the common good, it is for those responsible to make a moral decision,” he said. With Jess Diaz, Christina Mendez, Evelyn Macairan