Tommy Osmeña on DAP funds: I’m most resourceful

OSMEÑA

CEBU CITY, Philippines—Former Cebu Rep. Tomas Osmeña on Thursday admitted receiving P124 million in funds sourced from the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), calling it an act of resourcefulness that should not be misconstrued by Cebuanos as immoral.

Osmeña told the Inquirer that as congressman for the second district of Cebu City from 2010 to 2013, he only received P70 million in pork barrel funds, which was why he sought other sources of project funding.

“That’s my job as a congressman—to get money wherever I can get money,” he said.

“At least among the Cebuano legislators, I’m the most resourceful. But one thing for sure, I did not go to any fictitious nongovernment organizations,” he added.

Osmeña said he did not personally receive the money as his role was limited to identifying the projects and looking for sources of funding.

He said he could not remember the particular projects funded by DAP, but most of the money went to road improvement projects in both south and north districts in Cebu City.

Osmeña said he would ask the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to furnish him a list of his projects funded by DAP.

Among Osmeña’s DAP-funded projects were the improvement of the Busay Road at the cost of P12 million and the Pulang Bato Road at P10 million. Both are located in the mountain villages in Cebu City.

He said Cebuanos should not hate him, a neophyte congressman, for being resourceful.

“The Supreme Court says DAP is illegal but to me, it’s not immoral. There was just a shortcut by DBM,” said Osmeña, an ally of President Aquino.

As a congressman, Osmeña said, his main task was to lobby for funding regardless of where it would come from.

“If we will not lobby [for funds], the ones who will suffer are the probinsyanos (people from the provinces) because all the funding will go to Manila,” he said.

Pampanga Rep. Oscar Rodriguez also admitted that the City of San Fernando and the rest of the province’s third district have received more than P154 million for emergency and regular projects when he was city mayor and representative.

Rodriguez, however, said he was not aware that these were funded through the DAP, noting that most of these projects were coursed through the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Rodriguez’s statement came after his name was included among the Liberal Party leaders whose local governments received DAP funds.

“I have repeatedly mentioned before and during the [2013] campaign that the national government helped us in putting up many needed infrastructure projects, like the City College building, pedestrian overpasses, repair of the breached tail dike, all benefiting our people here,” Rodriguez said by phone.