MANILA, Philippines — The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Friday called on the government to disclose to the public where and how funds from the Disbursment Acceleration Program (DAP) were spent.
“We call on the Commission on Audit (COA) and on the Office of the Ombudsman to tell the nation where DAP funds went,” CBCP President and Archbishop of Lingayen Dagupan Socrates Villegas said in a statement.
Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop and CBCP president Socrates Villegas. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
“While, indeed, in many cases, it would be impractical, unhelpful even, to undo every project funded by what the High Court has ruled to be unconstitutional means, we must nevertheless know how these monies were used, for where there was illegal and immoral application of funds, there must be restitution,” he said.
Several portions of the DAP were declared as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court saying that President Benigno Aquio III “usurped” Congress’ power of allocating funds.
The DAP, established by Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, realigned unallocated funds or savings to projects that are not included in the budget.
The Supreme Court previously also declared as unconstitutional the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) more popularly known as pork barrel.
“We reiterate our position that investigation and inquest cannot and must not be selective, for public perception that some are shielded while others are persecuted detracts from the confidence people must repose in their institutions,” Villegas said.
Senators Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr, Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, and Juan Ponce Enrile have been arrested for their involvement in the P10-billion pork barrel scam that involved public funds for ghost projects allegedly masterminded by Janet Lim Napoles.
“Both DAP and PDAF involve enormous sums and while it is claimed by the government officials involved that these went into projects that benefited the people, there are serious allegations that we cannot summarily dismiss and ignore,” Villegas said.
“Three senators have been charged, together with others, for the illegal use of pork-barrel funds. It is claimed that a considerable part went into ghost NGOs set up precisely to facilitate the conversion of public funds for personal and other illegal and immoral uses,” he said.
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