CA affirms ruling on Abad’s misconduct in outlawed DAP

By REY G. PANALIGAN

The Court of Appeals (CA) has affirmed its decision that found former budget secretary Florencio B. Abad guilty of simple misconduct in the implementation of the outlawed Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) of the previous administration.

In a resolution written by Associate Justice Zenaida Galapate Laguilles, the CA dismissed the motion for reconsideration filed by Abad.

“After a review of the grounds relied upon by the petitioner (Abad), this Court finds no compelling reason to amend our decision as the issues raised have already been resolved and covered extensively in the assailed decision,” the CA said.

In 2014, the Supreme Court (SC) declared DAP unconstitutional specifically on the withdrawal of unobligated allotments from the implementing agencies; the declaration of the withdrawn unobligated allotments and unreleased appropriations as savings prior to the end of the fiscal year without complying with the statutory definition of savings contained in the General Appropriations Act (GAA); and the cross-border transfers of the savings of the Executive to augment the appropriations of other offices outside the Executive branch.

In its decision issued last February, the CA said that since Abad is no longer in public service and may not be suspended anymore as ordered by the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB), the penalty is convertible to a fine equivalent to his threemonth salary.

The decision dismissed Abad’s claim of good faith in the implementation of DAP.

It said: “To be sure, Abad may not successfully evade liability by invoking good faith. While Abad’s desire to fast track public spending and push economic growth is laudable and the implementation of the DAP, in fact, undeniably yielded positive results that enhanced the economic welfare of the country, his defenses cannot override the clear mandate of the law.

“It is of no consequence, then, that no malice or corrupt motive impelled Abad into adopting the flawed procedures. As responsible public officer, Abad ought to have been well aware that he has no authority to overrule the requirements established rules and the fundamental law of the land,” it said.

In finding Abad administratively liable, the OMB said that the former budget secretary intruded on the powers of Congress by effectively modifying the provisions on savings in the GAA of 2012 when he issued National Budget Circular No. 541, which consolidated savings or unutilized balances and withdrew unobligated balances of agencies with low levels of obligations.