Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — At least 10 groups trooped to the Office of the Ombudsman on Friday to file complaints against former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and former Budget Sec. Butch Abad over the past administration’s spending scheme called Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).
The groups, including Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN), Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), Bayan Muna, and the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC), accused Aquino and Abad of technical malversation, usurpation of legislative powers, and graft and corruption.
The Aquino administration initiated DAP in 2011 in a bid to boost economic growth through fast-tracking the release of funds for priority projects of the government.
DAP tapped the power of the President over the use of standby funds in the national budget, funds for unfilled government positions, unreleased funds from slow-moving and halted projects, and funds for projects that did not yet have contracts.
But the complainants said this was tantamount to usurping the powers of Congress, which has the authority to allocate and transfer funds.
BAYAN Sec. Gen. Renato Reyes said DAP was Aquino’s biggest pork barrel, as government savings were realigned for what they said were “pet projects” of the then President.
“Sa lahat ng approval [letters] ng pag-re-release ng pondo at pagkukuha ng savings, sa lahat ng memorandum kaugnay ng DAP, mayroong pirma ang Pangulo. Ibig sabihin, siya (Aquino) ang nag-a-approve ng DAP. Hindi maaaring exempted siya dun sa pananagutan,” Reyes said.
[Translation: “The President signed all the approval [letters] of the release of funds, claiming of savings, and memorandum in connection with DAP. This means that he approved of DAP. He must not be exempted from accountability.”]
Reyes said they have long been wanting to file a case against Aquino, but since he had an immunity from cases when he was still president, they were unable to do so. He said the majority in Congress that time was allied with Aquino, which proved to be another drawback.
“We want to have accountability nung panahon ng impeachment pero hindi kami pinayagan ng Kongreso na dominated ng Liberal Party,” Reyes said.
[Translation: “We want to have accountability during the wake of the impeachment cases, but the Congress, which was then dominated by the Liberal Party, blocked this move.”]
Related: Militant groups: Aquino must be held liable for the ‘sins’ of his administration
In 2014, the Supreme Court declared some portions of the DAP unconstitutional and illegal.
Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate lamented DAP was the “biggest pork barrel fund”, calling on the public to be more vigilant to prevent the government from reinstalling the said fund.
Pork barrel or the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), a budget given to lawmakers for project allocation, was abolished in 2013.
Calls for the abolition of PDAF snowballed during the wake of the discovery of businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, who allegedly connived with some lawmakers in pocketing chunks of PDAF through bogus non-government organizations (NGOs).
The complainants claimed the DAP amounted to about ₱144 billion.
Meanwhile, Aquino’s spokesperson, Atty. Abigail Valte, dismissed the allegations as mere harassment.
“It is clearly part of their continuing harassment of a president who refused to be cowed by their chest-beating during his entire term,” Valte said in a statement.
For his part, Abad said he had yet to see a copy of the complaint.
“We have not seen a copy of the complaint. I will be more comfortable talking about it after I have seen the complaint, which I expect the Ombudsman to direct us to file our reply soon,” Abad said.
Related: SC dismisses petition to probe Aquino, others for DAP
The Ombudsman in 2015 found sufficient basis to pursue the investigation against Abad, while Aquino was absolved as the charges against him did not amount to an impeachable offense.
Zarate said even if the Ombudsman cleared Aquino, this would trigger a new investigation. He added this was just the beginning, as more cases were expected to be filed against the former President.
Other complainants included Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (COURAGE), Juana Change Movement, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, GABRIELA, Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (KADAMAY), and Philippine Heart Center Employees Association-Alliance of Health Workers.
