6th petition filed to void DAP

MANILA, Philippines - Anti-pork barrel groups and militant lawmakers yesterday called on the Supreme Court (SC) to declare as unconstitutional the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

The petitioners also asked the SC to declare invalid Circular 541 of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and urged a temporary restraining order over the DAP.

The petitioners from the #Abolishpork Movement included Carol Araullo and Renato Reyes of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, UP professor Judy Taguiwalo of PAGBABAGO, Henri Kahn of Concerned Citizens Movement, Manuel Dayrit of Ang Kapatiran Party, Vencer Crisostomo of Anakbayan and Victor Villanueva of Youth Act Now. 

Lawmakers led by Gabriela Rep. Luz Ilagan, Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate and Kabataan Rep. Terry Ridon joined the petition.

The petitioners argued DAP and DBM Circular 541 are unconstitutional and illegal, saying they allow the Chief Executive billions in pork barrel funds each year by unilaterally impounding the budget approved by Congress and realigning funds to projects selected by the President.

“The DAP funds could never be considered savings because under the law, including the GAA itself, there can be no savings if the projects from which the funds were withdrawn have not been completed or abandoned. In fact, the law requires that savings may be had if the project was implemented at a lesser cost due the efficiency of the agency. This is not, however, the case with DAP,” the petitioners said.

They cited Article VI Sec. 29 (1) of the 1987 Constitution, which states that “no money shall be paid out of the treasury except in pursuance of an appropriation made by law.”

“In the case of DAP, no appropriation law was enacted stating the amount that may be spent for it, as well as the purpose for which DAP may be spent,” they stressed.

They added the funds withdrawn midyear, even if the projects have not been completed, were due to the inefficiency of the under-spending agencies.

“The DAP funds are, therefore, not savings and could not be realigned by the President under the Constitution and the General Appropriations law,” the petitioners said.

Petitioners also said DAP violated Article VI Section 25(5) of the Constitution, which provides that all appropriation bills shall emanate from the House of Representatives and that only items in the general appropriations law allocated for the respective offices of President, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and the heads of constitutional commissions, may be augmented by its own savings.

They also questioned the complete disregard of President Aquino of congressional power to approve the budget by simply realigning the GAA and dangling the funds to senators and other public officials to get their support for executive plans and actions.

They listed as questionable many disbursements in the DAP, such as those given to lawmakers during the impeachment trial of former chief justice Renato Corona, the P4.5 billion released to Department of Transportation and Communications to supposedly buy additional train cars, the P625 million to conduct a survey on farmers, the P8.5 billion “stimulus fund” for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao on top of its budget approved in the GAA and P26.9 billion for state-owned and controlled firms.

“The issue of the pork barrel system is within the judicial ambit of the Supreme Court because it is not an issue of discretion or wisdom but a question of whether President Aquino violated the Constitution and laws passed by Congress in his obsession to maintain and enlarge his pork barrel. The DAP is the worst form of presidential pork barrel because it does not pretend to abide by the Constitution but blatantly and directly circumvents not just the Constitution but the appropriations and laws passed by Congress,” said the petitioners. – With Edu Punay