Aquino won’t comment on list of DAP beneficiaries

NEW YORK – President Aquino was mum on allegations that his closest allies benefited the most from the nullified Disbursement Acceleration Program, saying he was not in charge of farming out funds to lawmakers.

“I don’t have the list,” Aquino said, referring to the list of lawmakers who received huge amounts of money through DAP.

“They are the ones in charge,” he told journalists at the Omni Berkshire Hotel here, pointing to Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad as the ones who may have knowledge about the fund allotment.

Rep. Tobias Tiangco, secretary-general of the opposition United Nationalist Alliance, earlier presented a tally of lawmakers who reportedly received huge sums of money through DAP. He based his tally on the two-inch-thick DAP report given to him by Abad.

Based on Tiangco’s tally, former congressmen and now Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya received the biggest allocation of P408 million.

Former Cavite congressman Abaya used to head the House appropriations committee. He served as manager of the House panel that prosecuted then chief justice Renato Corona in the latter’s Senate impeachment trial.

Second on Tiangco’s list is Belmonte with P297 million.

The rest were majority leader and Mandaluyong Rep. Neptali Gonzales II, P263 million; former Rep. Erineo Maliksi of Cavite, P218 million; former Rep. Florencio Noel of An Waray, P179 million; Batanes Rep. Henedina Abad, P177 million.

Belmonte, reacting to Tiangco’s release of his list, said in a text message: “Not aware of it or how accurate it is. But of course, as Speaker, I sometimes share (my allocations) with colleagues.”

Gonzales said that contrary to Tiangco’s tally, his district was allocated only P201 million for 2011-2012.

“All were coursed through the city government of Mandaluyong as implementing agency,” he said, adding the city government returned the P180 million excess to the Bureau of Treasury and he had “the receipt to prove it.”