Aquino, Abad probed over DAP
President still enjoys immunity from suit – Palace
The Office of the Ombudsman is investigating, motu proprio, the liability of President Aquino and Budget Secretary Floren- cio “Butch” Abad over the creation and implementation of the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), some acts of it were declared illegal by the Supreme Court (SC) last year.
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales revealed this yesterday at the House Committee on Appropriations hearing on the proposed P1.775-billion budget of the Office of the Ombudsman for 2016.
But Malacañang is confident President Aquino may not be charged in court as he enjoys immunity from suit while in office.
Morales said her office has conducted fact-finding investigation on
the Aquino government’s economic stimulus initiative, with the Chief Executive and Abad among the respondents.
“Yes, there have been motu proprio investigations conducted on the complaint of several complainants. The respondents include the President, the DBM (Department of Budget and Management) secretary, and others who appeared to have been involved in the conception of DAP,” Morales responded when Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate asked if the Ombudsman already stepped into the DAP issue that has been hounding the Aquino administration.
Immunity from suit
Presidential Communications Operations Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. recognized that the Office of the Ombudsman is empowered to conduct such investigation but pointed out the President still enjoys immunity from lawsuit.
“We wish to point out the constitutional principle that an incumbent President of the Philippines is immune from suit,” Coloma said in a statement
Morales said the report of the fact-finding team – the Field Investigation Office (FIO) – is “now under evaluation” by the Office of the Ombudsman.
“All of them are pending fact-finding investigation and in fact, an investigating report of the Field Investigation Office is under evaluation by the Ombudsman,” she said.
Morales, however, declined to release the FIO report, which may be used as basis to start a preliminary investigation.
“We don’t release the investigation report. We either approve or disapprove it. If we approve it and we recommend the conduct of a preliminary investigation, then so be it. Now, if we don’t agree with the recommendation to initiate a preliminary investigation, this means the case is deemed close and terminated,” she said after Zarate asked if the public can expect in the coming days or months the release of this investigation.
She said they also need “ample time to review” the jurisprudence and law involved in the DAP complaint “to be very sure that whatever action we will be taking will be in accordance with the law, with the facts, the evidence and the jurisprudence.”
Last February 3, the High Court upheld its July, 2014, decision declaring some practices under the DAP unconstitutional. These include the withdrawal of unobligated funds and their declaration as savings, the funding of projects, activities and programs not covered by the General Appropriations Act, the “crossborder” transfer of savings by the Executive Branch, and the use of unprogrammed funds despite the absence of a certification by the National Treasurer that the revenue collections exceeded the revenue targets for noncompliance with the conditions provided in the relevant General Appropriations Act.
Plunder raps vs Abad
Meanwhile, Morales said her office will resolve the plunder case filed against Abad by militant youth groups, led by Kabataan Partylist “anytime this month.”
Morales said the public can expect the resolution of the case against Abad over his role in the DAP and the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) cases within the month.
She gave the assurance after Kabataan Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon inquired on the status of charges filed against Abad over DAP and PDAF.
Morales attributed the delay in the resolution of DAP cases lodged at the desk to the “involvement of several respondents” and that they need to “go by facts and evidence.”
Ridon noted that not only is a formal petition against Abad gathering dust in the Ombudsman, but there are also other parties that are clamoring for the budget secretary’s prosecution.
He cited the new Supreme Court petition filed last month by a cause-oriented group which called on the Supreme Court to order Morales to investigate Abad.
Ridon said it has been more than a year since he led youth groups in filing plunder raps against Abad before the anti-graft body, yet Morales has “not even lifted a finger” to act on the complaint.
In a 16-page petition filed by Ridon and several other youth leaders on July 8, 2014, the petitioners said that Abad “systematically misappropriated, converted, misused, and malversed public funds” through his involvement in both the DAP and the PDAF cases.
Raps over pork barrel
Anakpawis Party-list Rep. Fernando “Ka Pando” Hicap also called the attention of the Ombudsman to the plunder complaint filed by the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) against President Aquino, Abad, and Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala over the pork barrel scam.
In October, 2013, the KMP filed the plunder case, citing state audits of the National Agri-Business Corporation (Nabcor), a government corporation under the agriculture department. The Nabcor audit disclosed that at least 1.35 billion worth of misused funds were allegedly coursed through shady non-government organizations in the name of farmers’ socio-economic programs. (With a report from Jun Ramirez)