MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang expressed concern over the unanimous ruling of the Supreme Court declaring portions of the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) unconstitutional, saying it could send wrong signals to honest public officials who might still be held liable despite their good faith.
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda yesterday lamented the way the SC justices ruled on the criminal or administrative liability of hardworking government officials who are just doing their job, where good deeds are labeled as fraud only because funds were sourced from DAP.
“You are not only saying (Budget Secretary) Butch Abad has criminal liability. You’re also saying that Secretary Babes Singson, who’s an implementor of the DPWH projects that are sourced from DAP, is also criminally liable,” he complained.
“You’re also saying that (Education Secretary) Bro. Armin Luistro is criminally liable because he implemented Department of Education projects sourced from DAP funds,” Lacierda said.
“The SC just told them: You’re presumptively criminally liable. Is that a fair statement?” Lacierda asked Palace reporters in a briefing, pointing out that members of Aquino’s Cabinet have all been “advancing the cause of reform” in the bureaucracy.
“Now, the SC is saying that these good people, for instance Secretary Singson, who saved DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) something like P26.5 billion from graft and corruption, is now criminally liable for implementing DAP projects,” a sarcastic Lacierda reiterated.
“That is the import of the SC decision. So people who are laboring under the notion that we should improve the people’s lives by implementing all these projects, school projects, school buildings, farm-to-market roads, are now being told by the SC that since you implemented those DAP projects, you are now criminally liable,” he explained further.
Malacañang earlier decried what it sees as classic discrimination against the administration of President Aquino, compared to all his predecessors who also suffered judiciary setbacks but were spared from criminal liability.
“To be perfectly honest, this is the first time that the SC, in declaring an act unconstitutional, extended all the way to liability. It has never been done so,” Lacierda, a lawyer, told a news briefing.
“Especially when it comes to the operative fact doctrine, if you go through many decisions in the SC dealing with the operative fact doctrine, it recognizes the law as unconstitutional,” he said, underlying good faith in the executive branch’s acts.
“In several administrations, perhaps you can go all the way back to the time of the previous presidency (of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo), you would have certain acts declared unconstitutional,” the Palace official recalled.
The puzzled and bewildered spokesman added that not even American court decisions go so far. “So why did they do this? You know, it’s something that they (SC justices) should discuss.”
“You cannot undo what has already been done,” Lacierda stressed, thanking the justices for acknowledging the benefits the voided DAP gave to the public in general.
What really baffles him is the fact that never has the high tribunal delved on criminal liability of officials, even during the term of Aquino’s predecessors who also have their share of policies that were later invalidated by the high court.
“They never even spoke about that. They only recognized the fact that you cannot – no longer undo an effect under the operative fact doctrine,” Lacierda said.
TESDA confirms getting DAP funds
The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) confirmed that the agency received P1.1 billion from the controversial DAP.
But TESDA chief Joel Villanueva said that there was nothing anomalous in agency’s use of the P1.1 billion, contrary to the report of the Commission on Audit (COA).
Villanueva said the fund, which TESDA received in October 2011, has been allotted to programs providing free technical vocational education and training to thousands of students.
Out of the P 1.1 billion, Villanueva said P500 million went to the Business Process Outsourcing-Information Technology (BPO-IT) sector, through the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP), while P600 million was used to support the skills requirement in four priority sectors – agriculture/agribusiness; tourism, retirement, health and wellness; general infrastructure; and electronics/semi-conductor. – With Mayen Jaymalin, Jose Rodel Clapano
No comments:
Post a Comment