Budget Secretary Florencio Abad: ‘He save country’. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Budget Secretary Florencio Abad can’t be “hounded out of office” by calls for his resignation over the creation of Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).
The little known program began in 2011 funded P1.107 billion in additional pork barrel to senators in 2012 following the impeachment of then Chief Justice Renato Corona.
Crediting Abad, Malacañang said he “saved this country” from fiscal ruin, and therefore, without a finding of fund misuse, the budget chief would be staying on in the Aquino Cabinet.
“I don’t think that that would be fair to the Filipino people if Secretary Abad were hounded out of office by a bunch of opposition lawmakers,” said Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang on calls for Abad’s resignation.
Carandang, who was presiding over a briefing in the Palace, was responding to Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago’s call for Abad to resign out of delicadeza.
“Butch Abad has taken very good care of the country’s finances. The reforms that have been undertaken in DBM (Department of Budget and Management) ordered by the President, fully executed by Butch Abad, has saved this country and taxpayers billions of pesos and these billions of pesos are going to social safety programs to help the poor. They’re going to infrastructure to improve the economic climate and they’re helping the economy grow,” said Carandang.
Abad, a stalwart of the ruling Liberal Party, has been a loyal political lieutenant of the President.
“Abad has been doing everything that the President has asked him to do in order to improve and guard the finances of the country,” said Carandang.
Carandang said calls for Abad’s resignation have come mainly from the political opposition.
“I am surprised also because there has been no allegation, no process, no formal case filed against Secretary Abad. There has been no indication that he has done anything wrong and yet there are people who … are being investigated or being charged for using people’s money and I don’t see anybody asking them what you did with the money. So I think there’s an attempt here at misdirection again,” said Carandang.
Abad, however, was charged with plunder with the Office of the Ombudsman on Wednesday precisely because of questions surrounding DAP.
Abad was charged along with Mr. Aquino, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, pork barrel queen Janet Lim-Napoles and a host of other past and current agriculture and budget officials.
Told that Santiago, a perceived administration ally, was the one egging Abad to quit, Carandang said:
“She can be an ally, yes, sometimes. But, what I’m saying is, many of the calls for Abad’s resignation—these plunder charges being filed against Abad—would certainly be an injustice if he were hounded out of office. Butch Abad has taken very good care of the country’s finances.”
He noted that the reforms that had been undertaken in DBM that were “ordered by the President (and) fully executed by Butch Abad has saved this country and taxpayers billions of pesos and these billions of pesos are going to social safety programs to help the poor.”
These fiscal reforms produced additional funding for infrastructure development and overall improvement of the economic climate.
Secretary Abad has been doing everything that the President has asked him to do in order to improve and guard the finances of the country. Now, if there is going to be a process by which Secretary Abad can be found guilty of these allegations, then let that be a process. But, certainly, Secretary Abad is not going (to) be hounded out of office by calls for his resignation,” said Carandang.