Palace: Not yet out of woods on DAP

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang yesterday conceded that the crisis caused by the Disbursement Acceleration Fund (DAP) was not yet over.

“No one is thinking that we are out of the woods or that we are off the hook,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said, adding the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is preparing the list of programs and projects funded under regular savings, which Sen. Nancy Binay asked for during the Senate hearing last Thursday.

The Palace announced that a special page on DAP has been put up on the government’s Official Gazette, as promised by Budget Secretary Florencio Abad during the Senate finance committee.

“The page http://www.gov.ph/featured/dap was created. It contains a briefer on the legal and constitutional basis for DAP, a link to the list of DAP projects, the Supreme Court decision, as well as the corresponding motion for reconsideration,” Valte said.

Valte said the page reflects the administration’s thrust for transparency and confidence in the primacy of information in clarifying national issues.

The government has appealed the decision of the SC declaring parts of the DAP unconstitutional.

In Batangas City on Wednesday, President Aquino identified more projects funded by DAP and how they benefited the people.

In his message during the commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary of Apolinario Mabini, the President said the government had allotted P1.6 billion in DAP funds for the programs of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to train 223,615 scholars, spending more than P7,000 per person.

Some 66 percent or 146,731 of the graduates are now employed, he said.

Aquino said TESDA was still helping the 34 percent find jobs and that all their names, addresses and contact numbers were listed and open for anyone’s scrutiny.

The public also benefited from the DREAM-LiDAR project under Project NOAH of the Department of Science and Technology, which received funding from the DAP, the Chief Executive said, adding that through the project, experts are now able to disseminate reliable information on weather disturbances.

In the tourism sector, of the 202 roads that were constructed to connect priority destinations in the country to major hubs, 66 were built in 2012, using P5 billion in DAP funds, he said.

The President said in July 2012, the SC posted savings of P1.8 billion, which was meant to augment the fund for the construction of the Manila Hall of Justice, a project that was under the executive branch or the Department of Justice.

The SC, however, withdrew the request in December 2013, when the implementation of the DAP became an issue.

Aquino cited this as an example of cross-border transfer or the allocation of funds from one branch of government to another.

The President reiterated that the implementation of the DAP had lawful basis, and as such, the executive branch has asked the SC to reassess its decision to declare parts of the program unconstitutional.

The SC ruled that the DAP was illegal because the President violated the Constitution by using or transferring funds without proper mandate from Congress.

DSWD defends P4.4 B from DAP

The P4.4 billion that the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) received through DAP was used for the implementation of social services in various areas in the country, Secretary Corazon Soliman said on Friday.

“We uploaded (the list of beneficiaries) on our website. We assure everyone that there is no duplication (of projects),” Soliman said in Filipino during a press briefing in Quezon City.

Based on the detailed list of DAP-funded projects released by the DBM, the DSWD received P1.97 billion – under DAP 1 – to fund social services to residents in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The agency also received P1.31 billion through the Expanded Government Internship Program, under DAP 3, which provided technical and vocational trainings to 15- to 18-year-old beneficiaries in partnership with TESDA.

Another P500 million, this time implemented with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), was used for the students’ grants-in-aid for poverty alleviation program.

During her presentation, Soliman said the P1.97 billion allotted for ARMM translated to 987 day care centers and 924 shelters. She added that 200,000 children completed 120 feeding days and assistance was given to 1,476 families who are victims of flood in Maguindanao.

She added that 31,400 beneficiaries received assistance through the sustainable livelihood program, while another 20,454 individuals benefited from the cash-for-work program.

Higher budget for DSWD

During the briefing, Soliman said the department would request for a higher budget for next year as they plan to increase the number of family-beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

She said the program would be implemented in Yolanda-affected areas, and would increase its coverage for students up to 18 years old. – Aurea Calica, Janvic Mateo, Danny Dangcalan