Lawmakers used DAP funds for own projects

MANILA, Philippines–Legislators earmarked a portion of government savings made available to them through the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) to projects of their own choosing, much like what they did in the old  pork barrel system.

It happened in 2011, the year the Aquino administration introduced the economic stimulus program, which was unanimously declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court last week.

That year, senators were told that around P100 million was available for their projects, which they listed in separate letters to Senate President Franklin Drilon, then the finance committee chair.

The Inquirer obtained copies of some of these letters, including requests made by Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Bong Revilla, Bongbong Marcos and Vicente Sotto III that year.

Based on the documents, the four senators sought to channel their DAP allocations worth P100 million each to foundations identified with Janet Lim-Napoles, an allegation they have denied.

In his case, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano set aside a significant portion of his allocation to infrastructure projects benefiting his political bailiwick of Taguig and Pateros.

“This is to submit the list of my priority projects in line with your letter dated Nov. 22, 2011,” Cayetano’s chief of staff, Willie Buenaventura, wrote Drilon.

Listed in Cayetano’s Nov. 24, 2011, letter was the construction of separate “multipurpose and site development” projects for the Taguig Hall of Justice and in Barangay (village) San Miguel. Each project was worth P10 million.

Cayetano proposed similar projects worth P7.5 million each in Barangay Lower Bicutan, and another one worth P5 million in Barangay Lipid.

The senator’s “financial assistance to LGU (local government unit)” ate up P25.5 million of his DAP allocation. Of the amount, he proposed P20 million for the purchase of hospital equipment for Taguig City Hospital.

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV’s proposal had at least seven pages specifying “various infrastructure projects” for which he intended to set aside his P100-million additional allocation.

Among the big-ticket items was the construction of classrooms to be implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways “through a memorandum of agreement” with the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce Inc. The project was worth P10 million and so was the housing project Trillanes proposed for the Philippine Navy.

Based on the proposals, a beneficiary common to Senators Teofisto Guingona III and Cayetano was the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Office of the Secretary.

Cayetano set aside P20 million “for protective services.” Guingona asked that P10 million be used for “augmentation and support services to intermediaries in their implementation of social and development programs and activities for distressed and displaced individuals, families and communities.” He made special mention of “disaster and calamity” victims.

Sen. Ralph Recto suggested that P60 million of his additional allocation be spent on infrastructure projects, while P20 million was to go to Department of Health hospitals. The remaining P20 million was to serve as financial assistance to state universities and colleges.

In his letter, Sen. Sergio Osmeña III proposed that his allocation be spent on different road rehabilitation projects in Samar, Lanao del Norte, Surigao del Norte, and Surigao del Sur.