Sen. Sergio Osmeña III. FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang should ask the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), not the lawmakers, where the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) funds had gone, two senators said on Tuesday.
“Why is Palace asking us when the DBM has more complete and credible records of DAP (and) PDAF?” Senator Sergio Osmeña III said in a text message to reporters when sought to comment on presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda’s statement that lawmakers should account for their DAP funds.
Asked if the Palace was just passing the buck to lawmakers, Osmeña said: “Senators can lie. The best source of information is COA (Commission on Audit).”
Osmeña, who was allegedly among the senators who had received P50 million from the DAP, had earlier denied touching the funds.
“I never touched the funds. It is either with the DBM or with the implementing agency,” he said last week. He added that he did not also use a single centavo of his P200-million PDAF for 2013.
Although all his PDAF or DAP projects were posted on his website, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said they would not know which are the DAP funds.
“Malacañang should simply ask the DBM where the legislators referred their PDAF/DAP projects since it is the office that issues all the SAROs (Special Allotment Release Orders),” Trillanes said in another text message.
But even before Malacañang made the call, Trillanes already released Monday the list of projects identified for the P50-million DAP funds that he had reportedly received.
As far as his office is concerned, he said, the fund was part of his PDAF.
Trillanes then furnished the media a copy of his letter to then Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on August 13, 2012, requesting the latter’s endorsement to the DBM for the release of the P50 million “chargeable” against the PDAF under Republic Act No. 10155, otherwise known as the General Appropriations Act of 2012 to fund certain projects.
He also released to the media the list of 39 projects.
“Just to clarify, this P50 million is not in the form of cash but rather fund allocations for projects identified by legislators,” Trillanes said.
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