Noynoy insists no sufficient ground to charge him over DAP

Former President Benigno Aquino III has insisted that there was no sufficient ground to charge him for implementing the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) during his administration.

In his comment to the complainants' motion for reconsideration submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman, Aquino argued that his actions were "performed in accordance with law, as well as the rules and regulations existing and presumed valid at that time."

He added that he was "motivated solely on good faith and a desire to improve the operational efficiency of the government, as well as spur economic growth and development in the country."

Last March, the Ombudsman dismissed the criminal and administrative charges against Aquino in the DAP case, but the complainants, led by Representative Carlos Isagani Zarate, urged the Ombudsman to reconsider its decision.

The Ombudsman, however, found probable cause to charge former Budget Secretary Florencio Abad with usurpation of legislative powers over the DAP.

In his comment, Aquino also urges the Ombudsman to uphold its finding of no probable cause in his case and dismiss the complainant's motion for reconsideration for lack of merit.

Aquino dismissed the complainants' arguments as "mere rehash" of the issues the Ombudsman had already resolved in its decision.

Represented by the National Union of People's Lawyers, the complainants claimed that the elements of technical malversation are found in Aquino and Abad case.

“By directing the application of public funds, Aquino and Abad are the clear masterminds or authors of the crime. They are thus principals by direct participation in the crime of technical malversation,” the complainants said in their motion.

Aside from asserting that "elements of technical malversation are not attendant in his case," Aquino also said that the issuance and approval of the memoranda and budget circular is not equivalent to the second element of technical malversation, which is the application of public funds.

"Being merely akin to authorization to spend public funds, 'appropriation' and 'allotment' cannot, by any stretch of imagination, be tantamount to hold a person liable, because both terms fall short of the definition of 'application,' which denotes actual spending," Aquino's comment reads.

The complainants also failed to substantially argue that elements of graft are present in his case, including gross inexcusable negligence and undue injury, Aquino said.

In their motion, the complainants said gross inexcusable negligence is present when Aquino implemented the authority to transfer funds to augment deficient items in the GAA (General Appropriations Act).

"[T]here is undue injury where the hiring of and benefits for personnel in government agencies which are largely time-bound,” they added.

But Aquino said that apart from rehashing their arguments, the complainants "made no further assertions which would prompt the Honorable Office to reconsider its Decision."

Moreover, he said there is lack of probable cause for him to be charged with usurpation of legislative power.

He argued that he only "performed his core executive functions when he utilized what was considered and reported to him as savings and thereafter used savings to augment deficient items in the budget."

"The 'act of withdrawal of funds as savings' cannot be said to encroach upon the legislative powers of government because it is an executive function," he added.

In 2014, the Supreme Court declared several acts committed in the pursuance of DAP as unconstitutional.

These include the "withdrawal of unobligated allotments from the implementing agencies; and the declaration of the withdrawn unobligated allotments and unreleased appropriations as savings prior to the end of the fiscal year without complying with the statutory definition of savings contained in the GAA."

Another is the "cross-border transfers of the savings of the Executive to augment the appropriations of other offices outside the executive."

Atty. Maria Cristina Yambot of NUPL told GMA News Online that they would no longer file a reply to Aquino's comment. —LBG, GMA News