P180 M in lawmaker’s DAP funds returned to treasury

MANILA, Philippines - Some P180 million in Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) funds allocated to House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II has been returned to the treasury by the city government of Mandaluyong.

Gonzales is the lone representative of the city. He chose the city government to implement most of his projects.

He said the city returned about P180 million of his P211-million DAP allocation to the Bureau of Treasury last June and August after the Supreme Court struck down some DAP practices and the Priority Development Assistance Fund or congressional pork barrel as unconstitutional.

He reiterated that he was not informed that the funds came from DAP.

Militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) has criticized Gonzales for supposedly allotting P62 million of his DAP funds for flood control projects.

He denied the group’s claim, saying, “I do not know where Bayan’s information came from.”

He said the P62 million, covered by Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) No. G-11-01638 dated Nov. 2, 2011, was for various projects, including scholarships, PhilHealth coverage of indigent constituents, repair of school buildings and rehabilitation of several barangay roads.

“The two projects that can be claimed to be related to flood control were dredging of Buhangin and Maytunas creeks, for which P8 million was budgeted, and de-clogging of canals in 13 barangays, which had a funding of P9.2 million,” he said.

However, out of these funds, only P3,017,830 was spent for the dredging of Buhangin creek and P927,340 for Maytunas, Gonzales said.

“Out of the total projects amounting to P62 million, only P28,977,109 was utilized. The balance of P33,022,891, including P5 million for scholarships, P3 million for PhilHealth coverage, P5 million for rice subsidy, and the entire P9.2 million for de-clogging of canals in several barangays, was part of the P180 million returned to the treasury,” he added.

He said part of the work of a congressman is to lobby for projects for his district.

He said one project he has successfully lobbied for with the Department of Public Works and Highways is the rehabilitation of the flood control system in the Boni-Maysilo area.

“This is a comprehensive project which has an estimate of a little less than a billion pesos, due to the severity of the flood problem which has been a bane for decades for everyone passing or residing in that area. DPWH started this project during the first quarter of 2013 and will finish it by 2016,” he said.