DAP ruling may delay Apec project

Senate President Franklin Drilon: Money spend properly. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

ILOILO CITY, Philippines—The completion of the P700-million Iloilo Convention Center (ICC) has been rendered uncertain by the Supreme Court’s ruling on Tuesday that the Disbursement Acceleration Progam (DAP) is unconstitutional.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Senate President Franklin Drilon said he respected the Supreme Court decision, but defended the release of P100 million to him, saying the money was spent properly.

“The funds I [accepted] were not misused, nor were they channeled to bogus nongovernment organizations. The funds were used for the construction of the Iloilo Convention Center in order to boost Iloilo’s chances of hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ministerial meetings in 2015,” Drilon, who is from Iloilo, said.

“What is wrong with fulfilling the dreams of your people? What is important is that we can account for every centavo of the public funds and that there is transparency and accountability in the implementation,” he said.

The convention center, which was inspected by President Aquino on Friday, is partly funded by P100 million from the DAP, which was released to Drilon.

It was the largest chunk released from the controversial fund, created by Malacañang to speed up government spending and stimulate the economy.

Iloilo Mayor Jed Mabilog on Wednesday said he hoped the Supreme Court ruling would not delay the completion of the convention center.

He said failure to finish the convention center would affect Iloilo City’s bid to host the ministerial meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Forum in 2015.

Former National Treasurer Leonor Briones on Tuesday said the P1.1-billion in DAP funds released by Malacañang to 20 senators should be returned to the national coffers.

But Drilon said nothing about the calls for the return of the DAP funds.

80% completed

Public Works Director Edilberto Tayao of Western Visayas said the ICC was already 80-percent completed.

“I don’t know the impact of the Supreme Court ruling on our project because the funds that came from the DAP were already [used up],” Tayao said.

Aside from the DAP, funding for the ICC was sourced from the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (P200 million), Department of Public Works and Highways (P200 million) and at least P200 million from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) allocation of Drilon.

Tayao said the DPWH was waiting for the tourism fund to be released to proceed with the construction.

Donated property

The convention center is being built on a 1.7-hectare property valued at P200 million. The property, donated by Megaworld Corp., is located at the 54-hectare Iloilo Business Park, which used to be the former Iloilo airport in Mandurriao District.

The two-story convention center is being constructed based on a design inspired by Iloilo’s Dinagyang and Paraw festivals.

It has a floor area of 6,400 square meters.

The convention center will have a main hall on the ground floor with a 3,700-seat capacity. It will also have 500-seat function rooms on the second floor.

The ICC is also intended to expand Iloilo’s tourism industry as an international convention hub.