Is DAP worth fighting for?

PERRYSCOPE
Perry Diaz

In an attempt to do a great service to the people – or his “boss” as he calls them -- President Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III used an ingenious system of funneling “savings” generated by underspent government programs to a huge piggy bank.  He can then take money from it to spend on projects that he believes would benefit his “boss” or for any other endeavor he wishes to pursue.   

And that’s exactly what P-Noy must have had in mind when he commissioned his friend and political ally Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to design and devise a system that would accelerate the disbursement of the money taken from these “savings.”

Simple as it may seem, the “system” we’re talking about here is conveniently called Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).  But to circumvent the Legislature’s “power of the purse” constitutional mandate, it requires the expertise of a person who works “outside the box” and who would do whatever it takes to achieve that goal, including unconventional – and unconstitutional -- means to make it happen. Sounds Machiavellian?

Implemented in 2011 into P-Noy’s second year in office, DAP churned these “savings” into funds that he can use without congressional authorization.  These funds are then earmarked for whatever projects P-Noy had selected.  Needless to say, the beneficiaries couldn’t care less where the funds originated.  Indeed, there is a built-in “omerta”mechanism that guarantees the silence of the beneficiaries.  After all, who would dare question the provenance of these funds? 

P-Noy must have been enjoying his “lucky streak.”  But like the 14th century poet Geoffrey Chaucer’s famous line says, “All good things must come to and end,” P-Noy’s three-year run with DAP came to an end amidst the biggest corruption scandal the country ever had – the P10-billion “pork barrel scam.” 

Bombshell

On September 25, 2013, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada broke his “omerta.”  He delivered a privilege speech on the Senate floor exposing a series of “payoffs” to senators to influence how they voted on bills or issues pending before the Senate. 

He dropped a bombshell saying that P50 million in discretionary funds was given to each of the 20 senators who voted to convict former Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona.  Although Jinggoy made it crystal clear that the money was not a bribe -- which made sense because the money was given after the vote was taken -- who is there to say that it was not a reward for their vote?  Or could it be that it may have been a pre-arranged amount to be released only if they voted to convict Corona?  If that was the case, then it was a bribe in every meaning of the word.   

The day following Jinggoy’s exposé, Secretary Abad admitted that the funds came from the hitherto unknown Disbursement Acceleration Program, which was later revealed to be his brainchild.  That’s when all hell broke loose! 

Setback

Recently, the Supreme Court ruled – by 13-0 vote -- that three key parts of DAP were unconstitutional. It was a major setback for P-Noy, who depended on the DAP to sustain his programs and projects without congressional interference. 

He must have felt like a junkie whose source of dope had been cut off. Immediately, he went on the offensive.  In a press conference following the Supreme Court ruling, P-Noy attacked the high court and its adverse ruling. 

During his recent State of the Nation Address (SONA), P-Noy stubbornly defended his DAP.   He went as far as to call on Congress to pass a “Joint Resolution” that would define government “spending terms” and to defy Supreme Court’s ruling.   

And in a display of emotion, P-Noy invoked the name of his father, Ninoy Aquino, and quoted his famous line: “The Filipino is worth dying for.”  Then he added, “The Filipino is worth living for” and “The Filipino is worth fighting for.”  But this cliché of dying, living or fighting for the Filipino is overused.  It’s now passé.    

Stubbornness

P-Noy’s tirade against the Supreme Court is like a little boy throwing a tantrum, making unreasonable and foolish demands.  He knows better that the Supreme Court’s ruling, once it became executory, is final and there is no appeal.  Perhaps his legal staff should give him advice on the legality – and futility – of what he’s doing. 

What he should have done was do a mea culpa routine just like when then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo appeared on TV and said she was sorry for the “Hello Garci” scandal.  She did it without admitting guilt.   It was brilliant!  Indeed, there is nothing more profound than admitting a mistake.  It’s the best defense.

But that is not P-Noy’s character.  He is the kind of person who would stubbornly stick to what he has in mind.  And it is a major weakness, a quality that is absent in great leaders of our times. 

Time and again, P-Noy has manifested his bull-headedness in many incidents during his presidency, including his refusal to apologize for the killing of eight tourists from Hong Kong when the tourist bus was hijacked at the Rizal Park in Manila in 2010, just seven weeks after he was sworn in as the country’s president.   

But his stubbornness in rejecting the Supreme Court decision and his continued defense of DAP could be the turning point in his presidency.  Does he think that he would prevail in a constitutional showdown against the Supreme Court? 

Our government was designed with three independent co-equals – Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary – that have distinct functions.  To date, these co-equals have worked harmoniously together with each other.  With P-Noy challenging the Judiciary, he is putting the Executive in a tenuous position.  Indeed, he is in a no-win situation, which begs the question: Is DAP worth fighting for? (PerryDiaz@gmail.com)