In his October 25 column titled “Conspiracy theories,” Amando Doronila failed to make an important distinction between the Priority Assistance Development Fund (PDAF) and the Development Accelerated Program (DAP).
Allegedly, billions of PDAF or “pork barrel funds” intended for public projects and services were stolen or pocketed by private persons through fake NGOs (nongovernment organizations) with the connivance of certain senators and congressmen who also benefited from the scam.
On the other hand, there is no allegation either by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, who first “exposed” the DAP in a Senate privilege speech, or by former Sen. Joker Arroyo, that the DAP funds released for public projects upon advice of lawmakers were stolen or pocketed by them.
Estrada called the DAP funds a “bribe” to legislators who actively supported the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona. But he did not say that the money went to the pockets of the legislators or persons not authorized by law.
Senator Arroyo, whose hands had never been greased by pork barrel funds, admitted he requested for the release of P47 million by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for the construction of classrooms in Iriga and Baao, Camarines Sur, and for medical aid to indigent patients at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute, the Lung Center of the Philippines, the Philippine Heart Center and the Bicol Medical Center in Naga. He did not complain that the DAP funds released on his advice did not go to the institutions he designated. Neither is there any allegation or suspicion that any of these P47 million ended in the senator’s pockets.
What Senator Arroyo complained about was that the funds from the DAP came from “savings” which he claimed cannot be legally disbursed by the executive without congressional appropriation. He therefore believes that the DAP is unconstitutional, to which the DBM disagrees. Now that is an issue that still has to be settled by the Supreme Court.
This difference is what President Aquino, in his speech before the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines, meant when he said the media should “keep their eyes on the ball.” The “ball” is the billion-peso PDAF misappropriated for private use. It is a criminal matter. The public wants the guilty parties prosecuted as fast as possible and sent to jail for plunder.
The DAP is solely a constitutional issue, barring any suggestion or complaint that it was used to cover up the theft or malversation of public funds. The PDAF may also be raised as a constitutional issue on the ground that the appropriation of public funds is a collective congressional decision and should not be left to the individual discretion of legislators.
However, President Aquino is right to be worried that certain quarters are deliberately confusing the issues in order to divert the public’s attention to another ball game. Further, the new ball game has him in its sights.
—MANUEL F. ALMARIO,
spokesman, Movement for Truth
in History (MOTH),
mfalmario@yahoo.com