Deles now attributes Bangsamoro peace accord to DAP
DAVAO CITY—As Malacañang continued to parry criticism over the Disbursement Acceleration Program, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process came to its aid Wednesday, saying the proposed negotiated peace settlement of the four-decade-old Moro insurgency and reforms in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao could not have been possible without the controversial fund disbursements.
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos Deles cited the “gains of the peace process” and the much-awaited reforms in the ARMM as being due to Malacañang’s release of DAP funds.
ARMM is one of the biggest recipients of the DAP, which, Deles said, has been used to institute long-awaited reforms to weed out bureaucratic corruption blamed for the sluggish growth and high poverty level in the ARMM.
ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman also said on Monday that the reforms included the validation of licensed teachers to weed out ghost teachers; capacity-building programs for ARMM agencies such as the Department of Public Works and Highways, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and the Department of Education. ARMM targets to attain International Standardization Organization (ISO) certification for these offices, to rid them of corruption.
“As a result of DAP funding, there are those who feel the consequences of the reforms,” Deles said in a press statement e-mailed to media offices.
Militant solons have described the DAP as presidential pork barrel, since it is a lump sum amount distributed to government agencies upon the discretion of the President.
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
In Davao city, workers belonging to the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), enraged over the fact that the P140 billion in DAP funds for 2011 and 2012 was more than enough to pay for the wages of 1.6 million minimum wage earners in one year, picketed the Department of Labor and Employment office, calling for President Aquino, whom they called the “Pork Barrel King,” to step down.
“We demand a significant wage hike, not a measly increase in cost of living allowance, end the legalized contractualization by DOLE and an end to repression of trade union rights,” said Romualdo Basilio, KMU secretary-general, said.
Deles said that aside from the reforms in the ARMM, the DAP was also used to fund development projects critical to the Bangsamoro peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
OPAPP said it received an additional DAP allotment of P1.82 billion in 2011 and P248 million in 2012 to support its crucial work on achieving negotiated political settlement of armed conflicts, Deles said.
“DAP was used for peace and development initiatives under the Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (Pamana) program, which served as a complementary track to the peace settlement,” Deles said.
“The funds were utilized for priority development projects for communities affected by and vulnerable to armed conflict, including areas covered by existing peace agreements.”
Deles denied reports that the DAP funds were used to finance human rights abuses in the Cordillera.
Instead, she said, of the P1.82 billion in DAP funds for OPAPP in 2011, P208 million was disbursed to support the implementation of the provisions of the Memorandum of Agreement between the government and the Cordillera Bodong Administration (CBA)-Cordillera People’s Liberation Army (CPLA) to transform the group into an unarmed, socio-economic organization; the final disposition of arms and forces; the economic reintegration of profiled CPLA members; community development; and inter-municipal and inter-barangay (village) development projects, Deles said.
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