Lawmaker hits DBM chief as 'super dispenser' for DAP

Buhay partylist Rep. Lito Atienza, an anti-pork barrel advocate, said Budget Secretary Butch Abad should have not decided on his own and realigned these unspent funds and channel them to the funds of the Disbursement Acceleration Program.   

 

"Yung DAP na sinasabing saving sa mga project na hindi na implement ay dapat bumalik uli sa kaban ng bayan at kelangan ng Congress approval. It should complete the cycle," Atienza told the media forum in Greenhills, San Juan City.

 

Atienza also said that Abad should not bypass Congress in approving such vital government projects involving public funds.

 

"Sino siya 'super dispenser'? Kaya ang dapat na itawag sa DAP ay Decision Acceleration Program dahil nagamit yan para madaliin ang pag convict kay (former Chief Justice Renato) Corona at yung RH (Reproductive Health) bill," Atienza added.

 

He also proposed that if the government wants to put these savings or unspent funds to good use, then the DBM should have directly put it into public hospitals which badly  need  medical facilities.

 

"Bakit hindi ibigay sa hospital? For instance, diyan sa National Orthopedic (Hospital). Magagaling ang doctor diyan pero kulang ang gamit," he said.

 

If the DAP will be deemed constitutional by the Supreme Court, which has been hearing the oral arguments on pros and cons of the pork barrel or the priority development assistance fund of legislators, Atienza said the government should do away with the budget-making of Congress. 

 

"Kapag legal ang DAP there is  no sense in the budget making of Congress," he said, noting that the DBM chief should first consider the Constitution before making any budget allocation.

 

Lawyer Raymund Fortun, one of the legal counsels of the principal petitioners in questioning the legality of the pork barrel fund before the High Court, said the government failed to mention where did the savings come from.

 

"Wala silang nababangit where  these monies came from...One of the dangers created by so much pork barrel going around, puwede nilang gamitin on their whim," Fortun said.

 

He noted that the President has as much as P1 trillion to spend or allocate from these savings.

 

"Hindi nga Presidente' yung masama pero yung mga tao nya ang kumikilos...we are relying on a good President to be there and check what his people are doing," Fortun said. 

 

The oral arguments on the pork barrel fund before the SC will continue on Thursday, with the respondents, represented by the Solicitor General, set to present their arguments.