Why course DAP thru senators?

I read the Inquirer’s Oct. 16 editorial (“First things first”). It stated that “the hue and cry over the DAP’s legality has all but obscured other, more pressing concerns related to lawmakers’ misuse of the Priority Development Assistance Fund…”

“The DAP, in other words, is a question of law that can be settled with finality by a ruling from the Supreme Court.”

Let me offer an explanation for the public’s “hue and cry.”

While the public would generally accord President Aquino ample flexibility in deploying the funds, the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) got on the radar screen of the reading public because of the large amounts passed through certain legislators. So far, it is P1.1 billion for six senators, each of them getting P100 million, in addition to their P200-million PDAF.

The issue has also gained traction because the people cannot reconcile the objective of accelerating disbursements with the need to course them through the senators. If the projects were immediately executable, then why not simply have the concerned departments/agencies do them immediately? Why, of all people, use the senators who don’t even have specific constituencies to know their needs? I will not justify those coursed through congressmen either, even if they work closer with the local development councils.

Simply put, it is a cause for delay and a temptation for corruption. While I am sure there are honest senators who do not benefit personally from their projects, in the eyes of the provincial implementing agencies, he who controls the funds “owns” the project. Biddings get rigged to favor a favorite contractor or supplier.

—FELICITO C. PAYUMO,

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