Militant groups on Wednesday slammed President Benigno Aquino and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad for continuing to stonewall on giving full details on fund releases under the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), specifically lump sum allocations to senators and representatives worth P17.4 billion.
Kabataan Representative Terry Ridon said the public鈥檚 hankering for full disclosure would not stop until Malaca帽ang released details of how much lawmakers had received from supposed economic stimulus program on top of their annual pork barrel allocation鈥擯70 million for each congressman and P200 million per senator.
鈥淭he list released by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on the night the President made his public address on the DAP is incomplete. The public wants to know more, especially since the DAP has been ruled unconstitutional by the SC,鈥� Ridon said in a phone interview.
The DBM listed 101 projects worth P144.4 billion that were implemented from 2011 to 2013 through the DAP, including P17 billion projects labeled as 鈥渙ther various local projects鈥� requested by legislators, local government officials and national agencies.
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan聽 (Bayan) secretary general Renato Reyes said that the DBM was 鈥渕isleading鈥� the public by presenting the DAP as lump sum funds to show that the lawmakers themselves controlled where the money went.
鈥淚n truth, the executive branch is the one peddling these projects and are just getting endorsement letters from lawmakers,鈥� Reyes said in a text message.
Bayan Muna Representative Neri Javier Colmenares disclosed that he withdrew his letter endorsing a P10-million milk feeding program in October 2013 after he was informed that this came聽 from the DAP. Colmenares had confirmed getting P25 million from the DAP from 2012 to 2013 but he claimed that he was not aware this was from the stimulus fund.
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. on Wednesday said that even he and his fellow House leaders were clueless that the extra funds聽 given by Malaca帽ang came from the DAP.
鈥淣one of us knew聽 of the DAP until the controversy erupted,鈥� Belmonte said.
Both Kabataan and Bayan have announced plans to file separate impeachment complaints against the President for culpable violation of the Constitution in connection with the DAP.
Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito confirmed that when he was a San Juan representative during the 15th Congress, Belmonte聽 gave House members an extra P10 million in projects on top of their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) shortly after then Chief Justice Renato Corona was impeached in December 2011.
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