Malacañang Reiterates DAP Helped Boost Economy

Manila — The Palace on Thursday maintained that the government’s implementation of the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) has helped spur the economy.

“Makailang pagkakataon ng ipinahayag mismo ng ating Pangulo ang kanyang paninindigan na nakabuti ang Disbursement Acceleration Program sa pagtamo ng layunin na pabilisin ang pag-unlad ng ating bansa habang ito ay ipinapatupad,” Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr. said during a press briefing.

Coloma was responding to a comment that according to a Commission on Audit (COA) report, the administration’s controversial economic stimulus program was ineffective because the funds allotted for government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCC) were not used properly.

In its 2013 Annual Financial Report, the COA ordered four GOCCs to return more than P2.4 billion in unused DAP funds to the national coffers.

The Supreme Court has struck down portions of the savings-impounding measure as unconstitutional.

On the money that has to be returned by GOCCs to the national treasury, Coloma said that based on existing regulations, these entities are given enough time to explain the audit findings and observations.

Asked to cite DAP programs that have helped the economy grow, Coloma quoted the President as saying that even the World Bank had acknowledged the benefits of DAP to the national economy.

He noted that the administration realized in 2011 that there were hindrances in carrying important government programs.

“Kaya nagkaroon ng resolusyon na hindi papayagan na ang mga balakid na ito ay makahadlang sa paglago ng ating inaasam,” he said, adding that this is why the DAP was formulated. (PCOO/PND (as)