DAP may be finished; but it ain’t moot!

Will the Supreme Court (SC) give President Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III a double-whammy on that highly-controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP)? This was the cliff-hanger that has put Malacanang into finger-biting anxiety mode. More so when both Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza and Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Florencio Abad impressed upon the SC that DAP is now over…finished, finito, ended as a project and therefore it is should be moot and academic.

But should the SC consider it moot and academic? In my book these people, notably Budget Secretary Butch Abad the sole creator of DAP is merely trying to shield himself from possible criminal prosecution if the SC rules that the DAP is unconstitutional. It is akin to saying that even a crime has been done, but we’ve scratched the project already, so let’s just move on and forget that the whole thing happened. That would be okay if we were not talking about the money generated from the taxes of the Filipino people.

Under the Aquino slogan of “Daan Matuwid” we are supposed to follow a straight path. But the DAP which was created by Sec. Abad apparently leads him straight to the Office of the Ombudsman because his creation isn’t backed up by any law hatched by Congress. I find it strange that despite the obvious fact that the Aquino Administration controls both houses of Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives, it would have been very easy for Sec. Abad to have the DAP approved as law so he could pursue vigorously without any fear of prosecution. So now, as the prosecution would say, “I rest my case.” I just hope the SC would rule correctly.

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Last Tuesday when our column entitled “Bangsamoro Deal: No Peace without the MNLF” came out, the headline in the Philippine STAR was right on the nail when it blared, “AFP Raids BIFF Lairs.” I hate to say this…but what the heck I’ll say it anyway… I told you so! But it’s with a twist. I thought that it would be the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) or the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) who would initiate this latest firefight. The fighting was initiated by the Philippine Army.

So now, let’s hear the critics shout out that we didn’t give peace a chance at all! But that’s’ the reality on the ground…that the signing of that peace accord by the Government of the Philippine Republic (GPR) with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has not resulted in peace in Mindanao, but more conflict. In fact the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) didn’t wait for the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) to start the firefight; it was the AFP who brought the war into their lairs.

I would have applauded the AFP for finally making a move against the BIFF. But their timing was all wrong because the news of the signing of the final annex in this peace deal was applauded by the United States, the United Nations, Japan, Switzerland and the European Union (EU) and they obviously bought hook, line and sinker Malacañang’s propaganda that peace was finally at hand. But instead, peace in Mindanao was shattered by our own Armed Forces. In hindsight…we ask, why didn’t they do this offensive right after the incursion by the MNLF in Zamboanga City?

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I was taken aback by the news reports that Senator Tito Sotto, one of the bold Senators who fought vehemently against the passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill has suddenly come up with a proposal for the renewal of the Death Penalty. Let me go straight to the point. If you are a pro-life as Sen. Tito Sotto has professed so many times, therefore you have to be consistent with yourself. You must advocate for the preservation of life from conception to birth all the way to a natural death. There are no in-betweens!

The reason I’m making this an issue against Sen. Sotto is because I too was in the same boat as he is now. I used to believe that the death penalty was a great deterrent to crimes. I recall how we cheered when the Supreme Court affirmed the death penalty of those accused of raping Actress Maggie dela Riva. When Chinese drug dealer Kimseng was executed in the early days of Martial Law, people got scared that things had changed for the better in this country. But look at us today; we’re getting all those ugly stories of people getting killed here and there. And Sen. Sotto blames this on the lack of a death penalty? How misinformed he has become.

The reason why criminals are having a great time doing their nefarious activities is due to the fact that 27 years after we removed Ali Baba during the EDSA Revolt in 1986, we didn’t put to prison the 40 thieves who ended up ruling our nation in all these years. Yet today justice is as elusive as ever. Give us swift justice and criminality will go down fast!

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