PNoy: SC Ruling on DAP Delays Delivery of Benefits to Filipinos

Manila (PNA) — President Benigno S. Aquino III on Wednesday maintained that the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) benefited many Filipinos and that the Supreme Court (SC) ruling will have a “chilling effect” on the government.

In a speech at the celebration of the 150th birth anniversary of Apolinario Mabini in Batangas, the President said that with the SC decision, each government official now must play a guessing game in predicting if his right actions will be considered unconstitutional in the future.

“Decision making in the executive becomes disincentivized, and with this hesitance comes a delay in the delivery of benefits to the Filipino people,” he said.

President Aquino cited more projects funded through the controversial DAP that have benefited and continue to benefit the public.

The Chief Executive said Php1.6 billion was used for the training of 223,615 technical education graduates, 66 percent or 146,731 of these graduates have jobs already.

The remaining 34 percent are now being assisted and continue to be assisted by Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in finding employment.

President Aquino also discussed the benefits of the DREAM-LiDAR project under Project NOAH, which was also funded under DAP.

“Now, the water level information we are able to gather during typhoons has become more reliable and exact. Warnings are given no less than six hours before calamity strikes, which gives efficient LGUs (local government units), such as those led by (Albay) Governor Joey Salceda, enough time to evacuate their people from the path of the storm,” he said.

With this, there were no casualties recorded in the province of Albay after typhoon “Glenda” hit the country last week.

In the tourism sector, the President said that out of 202 roads built leading to priority destinations in the country, 66 of them worth Php5 billion were funded under DAP in 2012.

“These roads will ensure—and in fact some of them are already ensuring—ease of travel and convenience for our tourists. Furthermore: the completion of these roads and, consequently, the arrival of these tourists in key destinations directly benefit our countrymen who make a living through tourism,” he said.

President Aquino reiterated that the government undertook DAP based on the Administrative Code of 1987, which it believed was in accordance with the Constitution.

“Allow me to emphasize: When we undertook DAP, we already had Sections 38, 39, and 49 of the Administrative Code as basis. The method we used has likewise been used by previous administrations,” he noted.

“And seeing that the Supreme Court itself—the institution with the expertise and the sole mandate to interpret the law—did it as well, we became more confident that our method was correct,” he added.

The President recalled that in July 2012, the SC had savings amounting to Php1.86 billion which was earmarked to augment the fund meant for the construction of the Manila Hall of Justice.

“The problem was that the item in the budget for this project was under the Department of Justice. It is clear then: the Judiciary’s money was earmarked for a project that was supposed to be undertaken by the Executive,” he said. (PNA) FPV/LDV

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