Joker to Noy: Don’t drag Cory into DAP controversy

MANILA, Philippines - Former senator Joker Arroyo criticized anew the Aquino administration for dragging the late President Corazon Aquino into the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) controversy.

While he defended Mrs. Aquino, Arroyo lashed out at her son, President Aquino, for allowing his allies to besmirch her reputation over the DAP which was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

“They’re saying that Cory did DAP during her term just to emphasize that they did no wrong. They’re dragging the good name of Cory,” Arroyo said.

“I want to ask President Noynoy, what has happened to you to even allow that?” said Arroyo, who earlier expressed belief that only an “evil genius” can think of using a 25-year-old administrative order to defend the misuse of over P140 billion in government savings.

Arroyo said the DAP was unique only to the present government.

“The administration must be so desperate that it has gone to such lengths, just to save their face, to even invoke President Cory as an implementor, 25 years ago, of an unconstitutional program similar to DAP,” Arroyo said.

Rah-rah boys

Detained Sen. Jinggoy Estrada lamented yesterday how the Senate has become the “rah-rah” boys of Budget Secretary Florencio Abad when he and other Cabinet members trooped to the Senate to defend the DAP last Thursday.

Estrada said he was able to watch entirely on television the hearing of the Senate finance committee where Abad, along with Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, explained how the Aquino administration used the DAP to prop up the economy.

“Save for a few colleagues, like Sen. Nancy Binay who may be a neophyte lawmaker and is not a lawyer but studied the DAP issue and facts lengthily, asked tough questions and pressed for straight answers, the Senate seemed like a rah-rah squad for the budget department,” Estrada said in a statement from his detention at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center at Camp Crame in Quezon City.

Navotas City Rep. Tobias Tiangco, for his part, yesterday said the Aquino administration has used over P200 billion in taxpayers’ money without the approval of Congress to build the Liberal Party into a political juggernaut for the 2013 and 2016 elections. – With Paolo Romero