Budget Secretary Florencio Abad: Will he resign? INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–If Malacañang holds nobody accountable for the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) and insists on keeping Budget Secretary Florencio Abad in office, the people’s trust in President Aquino could be eroded, Sen. JV Ejercito said on Thursday.
Ejercito said Abad should resign and exercise a sense of propriety in order to protect the President.
But Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara said resignation was a personal decision for Abad to make. And even if the budget secretary would hand in his walking papers, Angara doubted that Aquino would accept these.
The only people who should be taken to task are those who misused the DAP funds, according to Angara.
“The ones who should be held accountable are those who were responsible for wasting or pocketing public funds,” he said in a text message.
He also pointed out that the Supreme Court’s decision voiding the DAP made it clear that it was ruling on the constitutionality of the mechanism because its jurisdiction was limited to this issue. The matter of who should be held liable was left to other agencies.
“Issues like civil, criminal and administrative liability would or could be dealt with in other venues, perhaps the Ombudsman or the Commission on Audit,” he said.
Angara also said the people must stay vigilant following the DAP ruling because the court’s decision “is but a first step toward better budgeting and better use of public funds.”
“The public clamor for transparency and accountability is totally justified and of utmost urgency. Neither the President nor we in the Senate or Congress are exempt from public scrutiny,” he said.
Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV also challenged demands for Abad to step down. “The calls for the resignation are based on the wrong impression that the unconstitutionality of the DAP is equivalent to a heinous crime,” Trillanes said.
As expected, Senate President Franklin Drilon came to the defense of Aquino and Abad, his party mate in the ruling Liberal Party, saying it was because of them that the Philippines has gotten its highest credit ratings despite reeling from calamities.
They have also improved the budget and procurement processes in the government, he said.
Drilon also defended the DAP, saying it was used to improve the country’s economy and not for corruption or abuse.
The adverse court ruling does not diminish the administration’s achievements, especially those that have to do with improving the economy and cleaning up the government, he said.
According to Ejercito, the people could start losing faith in the Chief Executive if nobody would be held to account for what the Supreme Court said was an unconstitutional mechanism that was used to impound unspent funds and use these for projects the administration deemed important.
It was unlikely for the President to be impeached given his popularity, but still, somebody has to be held responsible, he added.
“If the Palace maintains this stubborn [stance] in coddling its men who have done wrong, slowly but surely the public’s trust in him will erode,” he said over the phone.
“It’s been four years and the people are looking for performance, for tangible results. The four years that have been given as a honeymoon have been a little too long already for President Aquino,” he added.
He said Palace officials should not brush aside the DAP issue and not just rely on the President’s solid ratings to get them through the controversy.
“They might be too confident already that the President has been very popular for the past four years. But in an issue like this, the acute violation of the highest law of the land, I think they have to make a sacrifice. Abad has to have delicadeza and take a bullet for the President,” he said.
The President’s men should also stop hiding behind his popularity, he further said. “The Cabinet of the President should be the one shielding him from controversies and not the other way around just because the President is popular.”
Ejercito also believes that aside from fighting corruption, the Aquino administration had not done much else. “We can’t live by just him being an honest President. He cannot rely on his honesty alone, there has to be performance.”