To a great extent, President Aquino’s startling challenge to the Supreme Court to reconsider its unanimous view on the unconstitutionality of the means by which the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) was implemented depends on proving one thing: That the DAP funds were not abused, or used for corrupt purposes.
“Corruption” is commonly understood to be the use of public funds for “personal gain.” But how do we define “personal gain”? Is it limited to enriching one’s self or one’s family? What about the use of public funds to enrich one’s class?
Expectedly, the reactions to P-Noy’s statement last Monday shaped up along partisan lines.
I will hazard one reason why only the youth groups associated with the militant Left filed a plunder case against Budget Secretary Butch Abad last week; when the gaping hole at the center of their case becomes obvious even to reporters who are not lawyers, the complainants can always hide behind their mistake by pleading the exuberance of youth.
We cannot understand why Malacañang refuses to make public its list of 116 projects funded by the Disbursement Acceleration Program.
