DOJ to look into the DAP! What about PDAF?

Call it wrong timing, but while we've been calling on the Department of Social Welfare and Development to remove street urchins living in our sidewalks, the local version of the DSWD, the City Social Welfare Services only made their move in time for the Association of Southeast Asian Nation Summit. So can you blame many pundits who tag this operation as to "hiding" our street dwellers?

But then, this must have been due to the six-year influence of then Secretary Dinky Soliman in the DSWD who during the visit of Pope Francis two years ago came up with a budget to send Manila's street dwellers to a five-star resort in Batangas. Of course,the head of the CSWS in Cebu City, Violy Cavada, denied this. In my book, they should have moved these street urchins next week after the ASEAN Summit is over and please do not use the word "rescue" because this operation was no rescue at all!

These poorest of our poor need aid and only the government has the budget to help them. That many of these poor people do not even come from Cebu City and efforts must be made to repatriate them back to their respective provinces and turn them over to the DSWD of their region.

Unfortunately, I can see some effort to politicize this operation when those street dwellers were interviewed and told the reporter that they have been living on the streets since the time of Mayor Mike Rama who didn't care about their plight. So does it mean that Mayor Tomas Osmeña is more caring about the poor? That is the message we are getting and I dare say that Osmeña must not use this kind of operation for political gain.

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Finally, one of the most important issues plaguing our nation since the Aquino regime was in power will now be investigated by the Department of Justice. I am referring to the alleged misuse of the Disbursement Acceleration Program and of course it should also include the investigation of the Priority Development Assistance Fund, which the Supreme Court declared as unconstitutional in July 2015.          

Yet despite the Aquino regime's mantra or their deafening slogan "Kung Walang Korap, WalangMahirap" there was no investigation against this misuse except to persecute the opposition, which is why Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Jinggoy Estrada were jailed. Yet the list of suspects involved many legislators. But no one from the Liberal Party was investigated for this misuse of government funds.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II told the press that the probe would also look into possible liabilities of former and current officials who supposedly benefited from schemes under the economic stimulus program that was partially declared illegal by the Supreme Court.But the best report from the DOJ secretary was when he said that the DOJ investigation would cover former president Benigno Aquino III and Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and how they supposedly benefited from the scheme. Why not?

So why are we finally getting the DAP investigated by the DOJ? Well, this is in line with what President Rodrigo Duterte said last Sunday where he openly criticizedAquino and his budget secretary Butch Abad for the implementation of the P72 Billion DAP program. As I wrote earlier way back in the year 2014 Bobi Tiglao of Manila Times wrote an article exposing the fact that PNoy had a P220 billion pork barrel fund and no one, not even the Commission on Audit, investigated this controversy.

Last month, the Office of the Ombudsman indicted former Abad before the Sandiganbayan for violation of Article 239, or usurpation of legislative powers over the misuse of DAP, but gave him only a slap in the wrist, while clearing Aquino.

Incidentally, the National Democratic Front in a dramatic fashion ordered the arrest of Aquino for the violent dispersal of 6,000 farmers in Kidapawan City last year. Indeed, the DOJ should also investigate that incident as we can see that the Communists are trying to beat the Duterte administration to give justice to the farmers. I hope we can get into the bottom of that violent dispersal.

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