North Cotabato lawmaker says her district got P2M for milk feeding under DAP

By: Williamor Magbanua - 10 years ago

Rep. Nancy Catamco (left). PHOTO FROM CATAMCO”™S FACEBOOK ACCOUNT

KIDAPAWAN CITY, Philippines – North Cotabato 2nd District Rep. Nancy Catamco admitted on Tuesday that her district got an allocation of P2 million from the nullified Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) of the Aquino administration, but she clarified that the funds were not in connection with the impeachment of then Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Catamco, an ally of President Benigno Aquino III, said the allocation was for the supplemental milk feeding program of the National Dairy Authority, which was implemented in various schools in the villages of North Cotabato’s second congressional district.

“Most of the beneficiaries are in the hinter villages of Arakan Valley area and the IP (indigenous people) communities,” Catamco told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by phone.

She said Speaker Feliciano Belmonte was the one who asked her to identify possible milk feeding beneficiaries in her district consisting of the towns of Antipas, Arakan, Magpet, Makilala, President Roxas and this city.

However, she said that no money was coursed through her office.

“There was no money involved here. Ours was just to identify the schools that would become the beneficiaries,” Catamco said.

She said the NDA implemented the milk feeding program by sending representatives to the beneficiary-areas.

Catamco said as far as she was concerned, the program had been implemented in her district and that her office has been able to keep a list of the beneficiaries.

“The records can speak for it. My office is very transparent in terms of project implementation in my district,” Catamco said.

She said she was surprised that her district got only P2 million for the milk feeding program compared to other areas, which got much more. COA records showed some lawmakers got as much as P10 million for their districts under the program.