Speaker defends lawmakers’ DAP

MANILA, Philippines - Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. yesterday defended the release of funds from the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) to members of the House of Representatives, even as he called for a tighter accounting of the monies given to lawmakers.

Belmonte was commenting on the tally made by Navotas Rep. Tobias Tiangco from the website and a voluminous report of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on the releases from 2011 to 2013 from the DAP, parts of which were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

He said projects of lawmakers using DAP funds can all be accounted for and none of them were coursed through bogus non-government organizations (NGOs), like those of detained businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.

“The thing to remember here is one, I don’t know it was DAP; two, I never dealt with NGOs, the Napoles NGOs; three, all expenses, whether mine or that of the other congressmen, were legitimate,” Belmonte said.

Tiangco’s tally showed Belmonte got P297 million from the DAP, while Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya received P408 million.

Other lawmakers who received funds from DAP were former Laguna Rep. Edgar San Luis, P160 million; former Cebu City Rep. Tomas Osmeña, P124 million; former Quezon Rep. Lorenzo Tañada III, P121 million; Batangas Rep. Nelson Collantes, P110 million; and Batanes Rep. Henedina Abad, wife of Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, P177 million.

Abaya was congressman of Cavite before his appointment to the Cabinet in 2012. He said the amount attributed to him was inaccurate, as he got only P281 million.

Tiangco said congressmen were allocated P5.041 billion, while senators received P3.785 billion based on the budget chief’s report.

Abad earlier said some P11 billion were released to lawmakers, with the discrepancy of over P2 billion still to be clarified.

Campaign kitty

Tiangco yesterday claimed the P10-P11 billion economic stimulus fund released to lawmakers, and billions given to local officials, were part of the Liberal Party’s agenda to guarantee the victory of administration bets in 2016.

He said some people have all the luck, while others get almost nothing.

According to Tiangco, the DAP, which was intended as an economic stimulus fund, was actually used as a campaign kitty of the Liberal Party in the 2013 elections, as most of its recipients were members and allies of the administration.

He said that between 2011 and 2013, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) released closed to P11 billion in DAP funds to 116 congressmen and 22 senators, mostly members of the ruling party and closely identified with Malacañang. – With Jose Rodel Clapano