Belmonte willing to name Saro beneficiaries in Lower House

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. on Monday said he was willing to release the list of legislators in the House of Representatives who have been issued special allotment release orders (Saros) under the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

“I have always asked my colleagues in the House to account for their projects and the funding afforded them for these. Each of us is responsible to our constituents and to the Filipino people and should be open to scrutiny in terms of where these public funds are utilized,” Belmonte said in a statement.

Belmonte was reacting to a Philippine Daily Inquirer report that the Department of Budget and Management issued at least 1,000 Saros under the DAP from 2011 to 2013. Of this, 900 Saros were reportedly issued to members of the House of Representatives.

Belmonte stressed that these budget documents issued to lawmakers should not be seen as negative in the light of the controversy surrounding the program.

“The number of Saros is not as important as their total and whether these funds were used wisely and legally,” he said.

“We must not always jump to conclusions and dub something as negative or ill-intentioned without the facts,” the Speaker added.

Belmonte also said the sheer number of Saros may be explained by the fact that representatives “break up whatever they get into many smaller projects to spread around their districts.”

Belmonte also said he is aware that under DAP, “many members … have projects actually being implemented and currently benefiting their districts.”

The DAP became controversial after Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada claimed funds from the program supposed to pump-prime the economy were paid as incentives to senators who voted to oust former chief justice Renato Corona.

The Supreme Court later ruled some parts of DAP as unconstitutional.

Anti-pork barrel and militant groups on Monday filed an impeachment complaint against President Aquino over DAP, which they slammed as the president’s pork barrel.