Village chief close to Aquino is DAP recipient

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—President Benigno Aquino III had approved the release of P3.5 million under the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) to a village chief in Hacienda Luisita, a group of farmworkers said, citing a report from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

The money was released to Edgardo Aguas, village chief of Central in Tarlac City, three months before the Senate impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona following the Supreme Court’s order to distribute the sugar estate’s 4,500 hectares to at least 6,000 farmworkers, said Florida Sibayan, chair of the Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (Ambala).

In a phone interview, Aguas confirmed that his village received P3.5 million for a two-story building, which the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) built near a covered court.

“I did not handle or receive a centavo or a piece of nail from that project. My constituents were the ones who benefited from having a barangay (village) office,” Aguas said.

Bible holder

Aguas was the barangay captain handpicked by Aquino to hold the Bible at his inauguration on June 30, 2010. Though present at the rite and clad in a barong tagalog that the Palace had made for him, Aguas just stood in the sidelines.

A 217-page DBM report on Other Various Local Projects (OVLP), which the Office of the President approved on Oct. 12, 2011, showed that the P3.5 million was coursed through the DPWH’s district engineering office in Tarlac province.

Covered by special allotment release order No. A-12-00694 dated Aug. 16, 2012, the

P3.5 million was for a multipurpose building.

This made Aguas one of three village chiefs who were among 287 recipients of DAP.

Aguas said he did not know that the funds were from the DAP, sections of which were ruled by the high court as unconstitutional because Congress, not the Office of the President, has the power to allocate public funds.

He said the project came after he submitted a council resolution requesting funds from the President for infrastructure projects in Barangay (village) Central.

Tarlac native

Aquino used to represent Tarlac’s second congressional district and is a registered voter of Central. His maternal relatives from the Cojuangco family own Hacienda Luisita.

Aguas criticized Ambala for “always finding fault in me.”

Sibayan said Aguas is not an ordinary barangay captain. She said Aguas was employed by Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) as an engineer and had opposed sugar workers’ demand for land distribution.

Aguas said he is an agrarian reform beneficiary in the estate because he worked for HLI as a messenger and foreman from 1982 to 2005.

He also denied the allegation of Ranmil Echanis, deputy secretary general of the Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura, that he is a stockholder of the sugar mill Central Azucarera de Tarlac, which is in Barangay Central. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon