Serge: Noy should do a 'Gloria,' say 'I am sorry'

MANILA, Philippines — President Benigno Aquino III should apologize in his televised address to the nation tonight for the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), Senator Serge Osmeña said Monday.

Osmeña said Aquino should imitate his predecessor, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who apologized in a televised address in 2005 for her "lapse in judgement" in the so-called "Hello, Garci" scandal.

"Dapat gayahin niya si Gloria and say, I am sorry," Osmeña said after the regular Kapihan Senate media forum on Monday.

Arroyo uttered those words after being accused of conversing with former Commission on Elections Virgilio Garcillano to supposedly order the rigging of the 2004 presidential elections in her favor.

Aquino, on the other hand, is now facing criticisms over the DAP, which has been declared partially unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

The President is expected to tackle the DAP issue in his televised address scheduled at 6 p.m.

Osmeña said he is disappointed that the President is addressing the DAP issue only now.

"I have said that if I were the political handler of the President, the first thing I would do is deliver a speech before the SONA (State of the Nation Address)," the senator said.

"Call it 'Ulat sa Bayan' and explain the DAP, para hindi na mag-get in the way of the SONA," he added.

The senator said someone like Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, the brains behind the DAP, should take the blame for the controversy arising from the unconstitutional fund scheme.

"I think that we have to judge the people's pulse, and they're looking for somebody to blame. And normally, a loyal knight would fall on his sword for the king, hindi ba?" Osmeña said.

He believes, however, that Aquino will survive the DAP fiasco and end his term in 2016, though the issue will affect his integrity.

"This is nothing, but this puts into serious question his credibility with the public," the senator said. -Louis Bacani