Abad faces new plunder charges
Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad was charged with plunder, corruption, and malversation before the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) for allegedly masterminding the release of the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) funds to senators as alleged incentive to impeach former Chief Justice Renato Corona.
This is the second plunder charge filed against Abad in connection with the DAP.
Lawyer Bonifacio Alentajan, former president of the Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa), basically based his complaint on the claim of detained Senator Jinggoy Estrada that 19 of his colleagues, including
himself, were given 50 million each to vote and oust Corona from his post.
Earlier, Abad admitted the release of the DAP funds to lawmakers as part of the bigger program of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to accelerate economic development. He had also denied that DAP funds were used to bribe senators.
The former Philconsa head argued in his complaint that it was unlawful for Abad to transfer funds duly appropriated to one government agency under the DAP to another without legislative authority as provided for in the Constitution.
Furthermore, Alentajan said it was illegal for Abad to transfer the funds outside the executive department, citing the SC resolution declaring some acts under DAP illegal.
He also asked the OMB to place Abad under preventive suspension in order not to influence the investigation and outcome of the case.
He said President Aquino was excluded in the complaint because he is immune from suit while in office.
Citing the SC decision on DAP, Alentajan said the Constitution provides that “no money shall be paid out of the treasury except in pursuance of an appropriation made by law.”
He said the “tenor and context of the challenges posed against the DAP indicate that the DAP contravened the Constitution by allowing the executive to allocate funds of its various agencies in the guise of President exercising his constitutional authority to transfer funds out of savings to augment the appropriations of offices within the executive branch of the government.”
“The challenges are further complicated by the interjection of allegations of transfer of funds to agencies or offices outside the executive,” he added.
In July 2014, youth groups – Kabataan Party-list, Youth Act Now! and the National Union of Students of the Philippines – filed plunder charges against Abad, accusing him of systematically misappropriating, converting, and misusing public funds through the DAP. The case, however, remains pending the Ombudsman Field Investigation Office (FIO).