Inquiry on DAP must continue--Nancy

The investigation into the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) must continue and those behind it must be held accountable.

This was the stand of Senator Nancy Binay after the Supreme Court affirmed its ruling on the government's controversial acceleration program.

"We welcome the upholding of the 2014 Supreme Court decision which declared unconstitutional the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program," the lady senator said.

"I am likewise calling on my colleagues in the Senate to continue our hearing on the DAP as it is important to bring to light how P167 billion of the people's money was diverted to other government projects. It is about time that we get to the bottom of this issue, and uncover the persons responsible for hijacking the national budget," she urged.

The high court voted 13-0 on Tuesday to affirm its July 1, 2014 ruling which declared the DAP unconstitutional but modified it to allow the augmentation of funds for specific projects given allocations under the General Appropriations Act (GAA). The Supreme Court also said that only the authors of the DAP may be held liable in case legal action arises.

In its July 1 decision, the Supreme Court struck down the DAP as unconstitutional because of the funds that were given to other branches of the government, the withdrawal of funding for items under the GAA, and the transfer of funds to items that are not included in the GAA.

It was Binay who grilled Budget Secretary Florencio "Butch" Abad on fund transfers made by the executive branch to the Commission of Elections (Comelec) and the Commission on Audit (COA).

The lady senator has also expressed dismay over the Department of Transportation and Communications' (DOTC) surrendering of P4.5 billion in MRT funding to the acceleration program.

"Sa punto pong ito napakaimportante na ipagpatuloy natin ang imbestigasyon sa DAP. Dapat po ay ma-account ng Department of Budget and Management kung saan at kanino nila ibinigay ang P167 billion. Nagsalita na po ang Supreme Court na unconstitutional ang ginawa ng DBM, at may kailangan may managot dito," Binay said.