Militant groups renew call to junk Aquino’s DAP
FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Militant groups led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) on Tuesday trooped to the Supreme Court to renew their call to scrap the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).
Bayan is one of the nine petitioners against DAP that filed the pleadings at the Supreme Court.
On Jan. 28, the high court will resume debate on the legality of DAP with government lawyers, led by Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza arguing for its constitutionality.
In their statement, the group said that up to now, the Aquino administration has not disclosed important information on the DAP, such as the sources of the funds and how these were used. Of particular interest to the public were the funds supposedly given to lawmakers during Aquino’s term. There have been allegations that the DAP may have been used as an incentive for the conviction of former Chief Justice Renato Corona.
“There lies the hypocrisy of the Aquino regime. On one hand it claims to advocate transparency, even coming out with a web portal for so-called “open data” and “open government”, yet on the other hand, it conceals vital information involving the misdeeds of the regime. Aquino goes on national television to praise and defend DAP, but when we ask for details, they deny us,” said Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr.
“Our lawyers were utterly disappointed with the documents they received from the DBM. The submissions failed to shed light on how the DAP was sourced, and how it was used. They were mostly general information,” he added.
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