Go after only those who misused DAP – senators

MANILA, Philippines - Following the declaration by the Supreme Court that portions of the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) were unconstitutional, there has been widespread demand for accountability of all public officials who played a part in it.

Foremost on the list of officials being implicated are Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, the legislators who were allocated funds from the DAP, and even President Aquino as head of the executive branch.

For Senators Antonio Trillanes IV and Juan Edgardo Angara, the only people who should be held accountable are those who misused the funds entrusted to them.

Both senators argued that legislators, in general, should not be blamed for receiving the DAP funds as long as they used them for legitimate purposes.

Angara said there was nothing wrong about the legislators receiving funds for their respective constituencies since this is part of their job to a certain extent.

“The senators represent our country and congressmen represent certain districts. It’s not a crime or it’s not illegal to ask for projects for your constituents,” Angara said in an interview over ABS-CBN.

“As to the question of accountability, the demand of the people for someone to be held accountable, we should take a look at how the money was spent,” he added.

In most cases where the DAP funds went to the construction of school buildings, hospitals or scholarships, Angara said this should not be a problem.

“But if the funds went to the NGOs of Benhur Luy and Janet Napoles, then they should be held accountable,” he said, referring to the bogus non- government organizations used by Napoles as conduits for the diversion of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of some lawmakers.

Angara said the Commission on Audit should conduct its own investigation into the use of the DAP funds in order to determine if any of the money went to bogus NGOs or to the pockets of legislators.

Trillanes, in a separate interview, admitted he was a recipient of DAP funds, although he did not know at the time that it was from this particular program.

He said all of the recipients of these funds as well as his PDAF allocations were easily accessible on his website – these all went to schools, hospitals and municipalities that needed funding for projects.

“If you are a public servant and you were entrusted with funds, you have to use this for the right purposes. I am confident that every centavo of government funds allocated to me was spent properly,” Trillanes said.

According to Trillanes, the senators who received the additional funding did not know that it was related to DAP.

He said they all assumed the funds were part of their PDAF, which was released in tranches.

Trillanes said the President or even Secretary Abad, as the supposed architect of the program, should not be blamed for the unconstitutionality of the DAP.

He said the Supreme Court itself in its ruling noted the results of the DAP were actually positive.

“It won’t make sense to punish someone who was able to implement something that benefited the country,” Trillanes said.

Several sectors have demanded the resignation of Abad in the effort to insulate the President from the controversy over the DAP.

The possibility of impeaching the President has also been raised but this was also shot down by Trillanes.

Trillanes explained one of the requirements for impeachment is the willful intent to violate the Constitution.

“In this case, they were not aware that what they did was illegal or unconstitutional,” Trillanes said.

If ever someone would be held accountable for the controversy over the DAP, Trillanes said it should be the President’s legal advisers.

Agreeing with Angara, Trillanes said the only people who should be punished are those who provided funds to bogus NGOs or who misused the money. –Paolo Romero