Lawmakers ask for fair and square DAP probe
Lawmakers are counting on incoming justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II to conduct a fair and square investigation on officials of the outgoing Aquino administration who were supposedly involved in the implementation and commission of illegal acts under the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).
Malacañang, however, was quick to brush aside the allegations, saying that President Aquino broke no law in carrying out the DAP and that “As Chief Executive, President Aquino faithfully followed the Constitution and the laws of the land.”
Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, a Liberal Party stalwart, and AKO Bicol party-list Rep. Rodel Batocabe, spokesperson of the House party-list bloc, asked the Duterte administration to pursue cases against those involved at all cost.
“We expect a fair and square filing of charges. But such case will depend on evidence,” Umali said.
“At the end of the day, the conviction will rest on the strength of prosecution evidence, and no other. And quantum of evidence is proof beyond reasonable doubt,” he said.
Batocabe, who is now allied with incoming Speaker and Davao del Norte Rep.-elect Pantaleon Alvarez of Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), expressed hope that under the incoming Duterte administration, the prosecution and judicial system will be strengthened.
“We expect a fair and just investigation to strengthen our prosecution and judicial system. I am confident that the Duterte administration will do just that,” he said.
Even though the DAP was declared largely unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, Presidential Communications Operations Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said there was presumption of regularity in the actions of the government.
“If we may recall, the Supreme Court upheld the motion for reconsideration filed through the Office of the Solicitor General, particularly on the operative fact doctrine. In that Decision, the Supreme Court categorically ruled and upheld the presumption of regularity in the implementation of the DAP,” he said.
Spare no cows
Duterte issued a marching order to Aguirre to spare no cows and pursue corruption cases against the officials of the outgoing Aquino administration over unconstitutional acts under DAP.
For her part, incoming Kabataan Party-list Rep. Sarah Elago welcomed Aguirre’s pledge to probe officials of the Aquino administration for their involvement and commission of unconstitutional acts under the DAP and file charges against everyone implicated “no matter who gets hurt.”
“We appeal to incoming Justice Secretary Aguirre and incoming President Duterte to exhaust all means to implement the Supreme Court ruling on DAP. The Filipino people have high expectations for the DOJ regarding this case. Aguirre should not let us all down by simply absolving Aquino and Abad,” Elago pointed out.
She anticipates that Aquino and Abad will be found guilty over several charges, including malversation and plunder.
“The DOJ should take the cues from the DAP decision of the SC, as it clearly challenges the public to hold Aquino and Abad accountable for creating DAP,” Elago said.
In a 27-page ruling in February last year, the Supreme Court upheld the unconstitutionality of several acts under DAP, particularly the “withdrawal of unobligated allotments from the implementing agencies, and the declaration of the withdrawn unobligated allotments and unreleased appropriations as savings,” and the “cross-border transfer of savings.”
The SC also emphasized that “only DAP projects found in the appropriate GAAs may be the subject of augmentation by legally accumulated savings.” “Whether or not the 116 DAP-funded projects had appropriation cover and were validly augmented require factual determination that is not within the scope of the present consolidated petitions.”
“This is precisely what the DOJ needs to investigate – whether a crime was committed by channeling funds to these DAP projects. Any keen observer who’s followed the DAP fiasco would agree that enough evidence is present to indict Aquino and Abad,” Elago said.