SC to hold special session on DAP

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) will hold a special session on Friday to tackle an urgent bid to stop the Palace from using President Aquino’s Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) funds to augment relief and rehabilitation operations in Central Visayan provinces devastated by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake last week.

In a press conference yesterday, SC spokesman Theodore Te said the magistrates would deliberate on the urgent motion filed by former Iloilo Rep. Augusto Syjuco Jr. at 10 a.m. 

In his motion filed last Monday, Syjuco asked the high court to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) enjoining the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) from touching the DAP, specifically for purposes of aiding victims of the earthquake.

“Constitutional doctrines must remain steadfast no matter what may be the tides of time. It cannot be simply made to sway and accommodate the call of situations and much more tailor itself to the whims and caprices of government and the people who run it,” he argued.

Syjuco is among the five petitioners who earlier questioned the constitutionality of DAP before the high court.

He filed the motion after Budget Secretary Florencio Abad announced that the government intends to use DAP in helping victims of the earthquake, supposedly because the calamity and contingency funds are almost depleted.

Syjuco said the DBM website reveals a remaining P6.95 billion in calamity funds, rebutting Abad’s claim.

In the same pleading, the former lawmaker reiterated that DAP is illegal due to lack of law duly passed by Congress authorizing its appropriation and release.

The five other petitions were filed by lawyers Jose Malvar Villegas Jr. and Manuelito Luna, Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa), Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) and the Bayan Muna, Kabataan and Gabriela party-list groups.

Petitioners argued that the Constitution prohibits transfer of funds between branches of government without an enabling law.

They cited Article XXV Section 24 and Article VI Section 25 of the Constitution in questioning the legality of DAP. The first provision gives Congress exclusive “power of the purse” while the second requires a law in transferring appropriations from one government branch to another.

Petitioners also argued that the Constitution restricts augmentation of budgets of the offices of the 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 by their respective savings.   

All petitioners have asked the high court to issue a TRO stopping the Palace from further disbursing DAP funds.

But the high court opted not to rule on this prayer yet and set an oral argument on Nov. 19.  

Palace to abide by TRO

Malacañang will not go around the TRO issued by the SC on the use of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) for this year by converting it into savings and realigning it to other programs and projects.

In a press briefing yesterday, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma said there had been various opinions and proposals that came out regarding the matter but the government would just abide by the law.

“We can rest assured that we will exercise due diligence and we will comply with all the existing laws and procedures that we should follow to ensure that the funds will be used in the right place and right manner,” Coloma said.

Coloma said the Palace must consider the whole context that there was a legal challenge involving PDAF vis-a-vis all other applicable laws authorizing utilization of the budget.

The release of the controversial PDAF or pork barrel, which is included in the 2013 budget, was suspended by President Aquino when the multibillion-peso pork barrel scam broke out.

Aquino said the executive branch and Congress were already in the process of abolishing it in the 2014 budget in response to the public outrage against its misuse by some lawmakers, other government officials and private individuals.

Several petitions were also filed before the SC to question the legality of the PDAF, prompting the High Court to issue a TRO.

The government, through the OSG, is seeking to have the TRO lifted on PDAF for scholarships and medical assistance to the poor for the sake of the beneficiaries. Aquino said they would like to continue addressing the needs of the people, especially those in the grassroots, but without violating any laws.

Aquino disclosed earlier he had tasked Abad to look into the legalities concerning the programs and projects that should continue. – With Aurea Calica