Dureza orders AFP to return P192-M DAP funds

Presidential Adviser on Peace Process Jesus Dureza. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / JOAN BONDOC

Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to return its P192.5 million fund for road projects that have been shelved since 2012 in Maguindanao.

In a meeting with AFP officials on Tuesday, Dureza said the military should return this initial amount from the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) since the project remained “unimplemented.”

The full amount of P250 million for the road project was not released after a Supreme Court ruling declared DAP unconstitutional, a statement from the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) on Saturday read.

READ: SC declares parts of DAP unconstitutional

“The projects were supposed to have been implemented in the previous administration starting July 2012, with the funds already being ‘downloaded’ to the AFP,” the statement added.

The OPAPP also cited the “considerable lapse of time and the possibility that the project cost now would vary from the program of work costs six years ago.”

Brigadier General Dionisio Baudin Jr., 52nd Engineering Brigade Commander of the AFP, meanwhile, said they would “comply [with] whatever instruction is given” to them.

The funds would be tagged “unliquidated” by the Commission on Audit, OPAPP’s statement read. /jpv