Thursday, August 21, 2014

P-Noy’s fight for DAP continues


MANILA, Philippines - For President Aquino, the fight for the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) continues, along with his tirades against the judiciary for flip-flopping in its decisions and its lack of judicial reforms.
In a TV5 interview aired Sunday night, Aquino said the DAP had been beneficial in many aspects to speed up implementation of government programs and projects through the use of government savings.
He insisted that if they did not use the savings, there would have been no additional classrooms, health units and medical workers, among others.
The President said this should prove the DAP was not bad but was an efficient mechanism to boost the economy while helping people through programs and projects.
Aquino, who had asked Congress to pass a savings bill, said they could not possibly leave the funds untouched while there were programs and projects to be undertaken.
He said it would be better to transfer the funds rather than wait for the next budget to be passed.
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Asked how the possible abuse of savings could be addressed, Aquino said the utilization of funds could be institutionalized.
He said he did not impound the funds, but some departments and agencies reported they could not use the money during the fiscal year.
He said the ability of government for “maximum utility of resources” must not be taken away, like in private companies.
Aquino noted this was his training as an economist and that every program or project they funded was approved by Congress.
“If there are funds, we must be able to use it for the delivery of something good at the best possible time,” he said.
Aquino said the filing of the motion for reconsideration was important, especially to contest the dispositive portion where “good faith” had to be proven to avoid administrative and criminal liabilities in the future.
While this is pending, Aquino said they had asked Congress to pass a supplemental budget so DAP-funded programs and projects would not be delayed.
He added the “allowable” budget deficit must be maintained so the country’s credit ratings would not be affected.
Judicial flaws
Aquino also cited other instances where the Supreme Court and the judiciary as a whole had shortcomings.
“For instance, the Constitution talks of the Supreme Court having two years to decide on a particular case. We know that that is not met,” Aquino said.
He also said decisions would flip-flop and one of his major frustrations was the slow pace of the Maguindanao massacre trial.

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