AFP chief urges soldiers to defend DAP to family and friends

Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—After telling his troops on Tuesday to stay out of the debate on the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), the chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines told them on Thursday to defend President Aquino’s economic stimulus plan that the Supreme Court struck down three weeks ago.

“It has been a hot topic around. If you are to be asked by your family or friends, defend the DAP because it has helped us,” the AFP Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Gregorio Catapang, said in a speech to roughly a thousand enlisted personnel and civilian employees of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) at Villamor Air Base.

Catapang asked the troops to rally behind President Aquino, against whom at least two complaints for impeachment have been filed in the House of Representatives over the DAP.

“Let us support our dear President. All of us are recipients of all the things he does and all of these are for our own good,” Catapang said.

It was a sharp turnaround from Catapang’s statement to the troops of the 1st Air Division at Clark Air Base in Angeles City, Pampanga province, on Tuesday.

He said that while the military had benefited from the DAP, the Supreme Court had ruled that the program was unconstitutional so the AFP should now “move on” without it.

Catapang said the military benefited from the DAP through financing for part of its modernization and housing programs and casualty funds made available by the President to support soldiers wounded in combat.

But the DAP, he said, has become a political issue, beyond the purview of the military.

“We should be reminded that as members of the AFP, we should remain professional and nonpartisan. We should allow the democratic process to take its course and let the judicial, the executive [and] the legislative branches of government deal with this,” Catapang said.

Two weeks after the Supreme Court struck down the DAP, a defiant President Aquino went on national television to criticize the ruling and warn the justices of a possible clash between the executive and the judiciary.

The President mentioned intervention by Congress, a veiled threat of impeachment against the justices.

Last week, however, Malacañang filed a motion for reconsideration, seeking reversal of the Supreme Court’s 13-0 ruling.

After urging the troops to defend the DAP, Catapang turned soft and said: “If the Supreme Court said with finality that the DAP is not right, we should follow. Don’t stress about it. Let it be.”

And he sang lines from the Beatle’s song “Let it Be.”

“If you are coming from the younger generation, you may say,  ‘Let it go,’” Catapang said obviously referring to the hit song from the Disney film “Frozen,” drawing laughter from his audience.

When asked by reporters to clarify his stand on the DAP, Catapang said he was just explaining to the troops what it was all about.

“We are not going against the Supreme Court. When it was being implemented, the Supreme Court had not yet ruled it was unconstitutional. Now that the Supreme Court has told us it is unconstitutional, then we are just telling them we have put a stop on all the releases [of the fund],” Catapang said.

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