Palace downplays criticism

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang downplayed yesterday the criticism President Aquino has been getting over the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) amid calls for his impeachment.

Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. of the Presidential Communications Operations Office said only a minority of the people disapprove of Aquino.

The President still enjoys the trust of a majority of Filipinos based on the latest Pulse Asia and Social Weather Stations surveys, where he had 55 to 56 percent performance approval rating, Coloma said.

In defending the DAP whose salient portions were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda admitted yesterday that the economic stimulus fund was offered to lawmakers even before the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) was voided by the SC in November 2013.

“Again our position is that DAP is different from PDAF,” Lacierda said.

He said DAP funds were given to legislators for the implementation of projects that benefited their constituents.

Lacierda said they have asked the lawmakers to identify these projects.

Under the 116 projects purportedly funded by DAP, around P17 billion have been released to President Aquino’s allies in the Senate and the House.

Belmonte to colleagues: Account for DAP funds

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. asked his colleagues in the House of Representatives yesterday to account for funds they have received from the administration’s DAP.

Belmonte made the appeal in the wake of confusion on who among senators and congressmen got their share of DAP, and where their funds were spent.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada had admitted that he received P50 million in DAP money and that many senators were allocated P50 million to P100 million. It was Estrada who blew the whistle on the controversial spending program.

“I have always asked my colleagues in the House to account for their projects and the funding afforded them for these. Each of us is responsible to our constituents and to the Filipino people and should be open to scrutiny in terms of where these public funds are utilized,” Belmonte said.

“I am aware of many House members who have projects actually being implemented and currently benefiting their districts,” he added.

Belmonte said his colleagues tend to “break up whatever funds they get into many smaller projects to spread around their districts,” with the intent of providing more services and benefits to a larger number of their constituents.

He pointed out that this would explain the existence of hundreds of special allotment release orders (SAROs) issued to lawmakers.

“The number of SAROs is not as important as whether the funds were used wisely and legally. We must not jump to conclusions and dub something as negative or ill-intentioned without the facts,” he said.

Belmonte promised to release the list of House members who received DAP funds and their covering SAROs as soon as the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) sends the documents to him.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said he was still reviewing the list “to avoid mistakes similar to the error that made it appear that a congressman received P3 billion in PDAF.”

He was referring to the special audit report of the Commission on Audit on PDAF disbursements between 2007 and 2009. The report showed that former Compostela Valley congressman Manuel Zamora was allocated P3 billion in PDAF.

Belmonte also said he is confident that none of the funds allocated to House members ended up with bogus foundations linked to alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.

“None of that (funds) went to any NGO because when you receive it, there is already a menu of allowed projects to choose from,” he said, adding that the same requirement was not imposed on senators who received DAP funds.

He said DAP-funded projects of House members benefited the people as the money passed through government implementing agencies, unlike in the Senate where some of the funds were channeled through bogus NGOs.

“Ours are small allocations, nothing like that huge amounts given to some senators. I don’t know, I didn’t inquire much,” Belmonte said.

“In fact, they gave me P10 million worth of milk, but I returned it, what am I going to do with that,” he added.

There have been reports that P425 million in DAP funds made available to Estrada and Senators Ramon Revilla Jr. and Juan Ponce Enrile was funneled to Napoles foundations.

The three senators are now under detention in connection with separate plunder cases they are facing before the Sandiganbayan. The charges arose from their alleged misuse of their pork barrel funds.

Earlier, Belmonte admitted that most House members were allocated P10 million to P15 million in DAP funds.

Party-list Representatives Neri Colmenares of Bayan Muna and Antonio Tinio of Alliance of Concerned Teachers have admitted that they received P25 million and P10 million, respectively, in funds that turned out to have been sourced from DAP.

Colmenares was allocated P10 million in 2012 and P15 million in 2013. Tinio said he received his allocation in late 2011 or early 2012.

The two said they were not informed that the money was part of the accelerated spending program.

Caloocan City Rep. Edgar Erice, a Liberal Party stalwart, had admitted he received P40 million worth of flood control projects from the DAP but the funds are all accounted for.

He said he would inhibit from the impeachment proceedings against the President.

Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas, chairman of the House committee on justice that will tackle the impeachment complaints, said he and his colleagues are verifying whether they received funds from DAP.

DPWH won’t stop DAP projects

Meanwhile, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will continue the construction of its ongoing projects funded under the DAP.

Speaking to ABS-CBN News, Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson said the flood control and other infrastructure projects which are being funded from its own savings through DAP are not covered by the SC ruling.

“These are ongoing (projects). I will not stop the flood control projects because I don’t think the unconstitutional aspect of the SC decision refers to projects like these,” he said.

“These are not covered by cross-border funding. We have our own appropriation, it’s a matter of savings, or the very least from the executive branch,” he added.

Singson said the department accumulated P27-billion savings in the last three years.

The DPWH chief said the SC ruling on DAP would not halt the implementation of projects that are part of a flood control master plan finalized two years ago.

“I cannot, in my conscience, stop the flood control projects even if they are funded by DAP. I would rather be jailed,” he said.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development received P1.9 billion in DAP funds to boost the government’s poverty alleviation program, Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman said yesterday.

She said most of the funds went to Mindanao for the construction of day care centers, core shelters and classrooms.

For its part, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) clarified that no funds outside of what was appropriated by Congress were added to that which government used for the compensation of landowners.

Reports said the administration had used P5.4 billion in DAP funds to pay landowners whose lands were covered by land reform, with the President’s kin getting P471.5 million for Hacienda Luisita.

Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes explained that Congress appropriated a total of P7.932 billion for landowners’ compensation for 2010 and 2011, under the 2010 and 2011 General Appropriations Acts, respectively.

A Notice of Cash Allocation for the amount was released to the Landbank on Oct. 4, 2011. Of the total amount, the release of P5.4 billion was facilitated through DAP and correspondingly released to Landbank as part of the government’s disbursement strategy.

“Some groups are trying to make it appear that this is the first time that the government is paying landowners. The DAR has been paying landowners for lands it acquired for distribution under the agrarian reform program for more than 30 years,” De los Reyes said. – With Jess Diaz, Paolo Romero, Edu Punay, Rhodina Villanueva, Artemio Dumlao