Full disclosure of DAP funded projects sought

VICE President Jejomar Binay yesterday said he supports calls for the full disclosure of all projects funded by the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), which was partly declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court (SC).

The Vice President said full disclosure is “a good starting point” to prove “good faith” by those who conceived and implemented the controversial program.

“Let me state as a lawyer that the question of accountabilities of government officials would have to be reckoned as part of the legal and logical consequences of this groundbreaking decision. As you all know, the Supreme Court has placed the onus of proving ‘good faith’ on those who conceived and implemented the DAP,” Binay said.

Binay urged the government to make available to the public all the projects funded by DAP.

“This is after all, consistent with the tenets of full transparency that is the cornerstone of the Aquino administration and I do hope my colleagues will reconsider a reported decision to withhold the release of the so-called DAP list,” he added.

Binay said he also supports the proposal of some sectors for an independent audit of the DAP funds.

“And this should be done as soon as possible,” he said.

The Vice President said the SC decision and the separate concurring opinions are “rather clear, if not brutally frank, on the matter of accountability.”

He also called for continued vigilance on the socalled Napoles scam.

“It is essential that we see this cleansing of government to its just conclusion—public service without taint of self-interest, without a tinge of deception and political persecution,” he said.

Meanwhile, Binay also expressed disbelief over recent sentiments that life

was better during Martial Law.

“It is a sentiment I will not accept. Yes there was peace and quiet, but it was, to paraphrase a famous expression, the peace and quiet of the graveyard,” he said.

“I will never trade one day of freedom for all the illusory trappings of tranquility obtained through force under the dictatorship,” the Vice President added.