Bam Aquino seeks legal definition of savings

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Bam Aquino on Friday pushed for putting legal definition to savings being used to fund major government projects such as those under the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

"As a co-equal branch of government, that Congress and Senate define savings once and for all to finally lay this issue to rest," Aquino was quoted as saying in a report by state media.

During the Senate hearing on DAP on Thursday, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad explained that the funds used for DAP projects came from "various places such as in agencies where DB releases where not used."

According to Abad, a total of P237 billion has been allotted for DAP but only P144.3 billion has been released for the implementation of various projects that supposedly boosted the Philippine economy.

Aquino said the term "savings" was the core issue when the Supreme Court (SC) declared key provisions of the DAP as unconstitutional, such as the creation of savings before the end of the fiscal year, the withdrawal of these funds for implementing agencies and the cross-border transfers of the savings from one government branch to another.

The senator wants the Commission on Audit to conduct a special audit on the DAP to determine whether funds have been properly used for the supposed listed projects. -Louis Bacani