DAP gravely tarnishes Aquino's credibility
President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III enters this fourth State of the Nation Address with his credibility gravely tarnished by the Disbursement Acceleration Program. Not only did President Aquino initially ignore the cries of the people for an end to Pork Barrel Politics, particularly presidential Pork Barrel, he deflected attention towards the Napoles Pork Barrel Scam and projected himself as ferreting out corruption and bad practices.
As evidence continued to be brought to light and the real score of the DAP was unearthed, President Aquino attempted to defend his misdoings as both correct and in good faith. Even with the unanimous decision of the Supreme Court that the implementation of the DAP violated the Constitution, President Aquino chose shallow defense of his misdeeds and thinly veiled threats towards the Supreme Court.
As we continue to scrutinize the processes used by DAP, we clearly see violations of the law. By deceptively re-naming allocated budgets as savings and using them for projects and purposes that had not undergone budget approval by the Legislature, President Aquino has undeniably violated the checks-and-balances of the Constitution and encroached on the sole power of the Legislative Branch. Even worse, significant DAP funds appear to have been channeled to favored patrons and cohorts at Aquino's discretion as well as used for alleged bribes to senators to ensure the votes to impeach former Chief Justice Corona. President Aquino has obviously veered off any Daang Matuwid.
What makes matters worse and insults our Christian sensibility is that DAP continues to be insisted as a measure "to ensure that funds are properly used so that social services and public goods are delivered to the people-especially the poor-as swiftly as possible," as if we are expected to accept violations of law because they are for the poor. (Secretary Abad, Senate Hearing, 24 July 2014) The truth remains that the poor have not experienced significant alleviation of their poverty and suffering; even more, reports inarguably bear out that a lion's share of DAP spending was not for the poor. It is reprehensible that the poor are abused for such politicking and disinformation.
The Disbursement Acceleration Program has become a path to betrayal of the public's trust, causing severe damage to Aquino's reputation and destroying any semblance of fighting corruption. President Aquino's continuing insistence that he is trustworthy, and thus, somehow immune or justified in breaking the law runs counter to his supposed efforts to stop corruption and misuse of public funds. In a glaring manner, he has become every bit a violator himself. If President Aquino cannot bring himself to repent from his wrongdoings, his next best would be to resign from his office as President.
- Latest
