The Palace said on Thursday that Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Florencio Abad will stay at his post. Abad has been at the center of criticisms for the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP). The DAP is a program which doles out funds to lawmakers to increase government spending. It was revealed that Senators got funds through DAP after the impeachment trial of former Chief Justice Renato Corona. “I don’t think that would be fair to the Filipino people if Sec. Abad were hounded out of office by a bunch of opposition lawmakers,” said Communications Sec. Ricky Carandang in a press briefing. Carandang was reacting to calls made by Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago that Abad should resign “out of delicadeza.” He also noted that the feisty Santiago was an ally of the administration “sometimes.” “Butch Abad has taken very good care of the country’s finances. The reforms that have been undertaken in the DBM…have saved this country and taxpayers billions of pesos. And these billions of pesos are going to social safety programs to help the poor. They are going to infrastructure to improve the economic climate. And they are helping the economy to grow,” Carandang said. He added: “Sec. Abad has been doing everything the president has asked him to do in order to improve and guard the finances of the country.” Carandang also said that if Abad is charged and found guilty for the alleged misuse of DAP, “then let that be (the) process. But Sec. Abad is not going to be hounded out of office by calls for his resignation.” He also noted that no case has been filed against Abad and there was “no indication” he has done anything wrong. Meanwhile, Carandang said the Commission on Audit is already investigating how the DAP was used. But for now, the Palace does not see any anomaly in disbursement of the DAP. Also, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said former Sen. Joker Arroyo, who criticized the DAP, should be happy his projects were funded by the program. Arroyo had said the DAP is unconstitutional and he would not have agreed to have his projects funded through the DAP. But Lacierda maintained the DAP stands on solid legal ground.
Posted on: Fri, 04 Oct 2013 07:28:19 +0000
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