DBM confirms Joker's P47M not from PDAF; it came from DAP

Amid a report which said former Senator Joker Arroyo denied being “rewarded” with additional pork for the conviction of then Chief Justice Renato Corona during the impeachment trial, the Department of Budget and Management on Monday said that the senator was half right.

According to a report by Metro Manila broadsheet the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Arroyo had denied that his office received P47 million in additional funds eight months after Corona’s conviction.

“These allocations, amounting to P47 million, were amendments introduced in the General Appropriation Act (GAA) of 2013 and not PDAF (Priority Development Assistance Fund) by any language,” the PDI quoted Arroyo as saying.

Arroyo was among three Senators, the others being Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who had acquitted Corona during the impeachment.

In a Monday statement, Abad confirmed there was no such reward, but also said that the money was not part of the GAA. “[T]he P47 million that the DBM released for projects endorsed by Sen. Arroyo's office was charged from DAP (Disbursement Acceleration Program)," Abad said.

The DBM explained that Arroyo's Chief-of-Staff, Delfin F. Espiritu, Jr., requested P47 million to support funding requirements for infrastructure and medical assistance activities across the country.

The infrastructure projects were two-story, eight-classroom school buildings for two high schools and a community college, while the medical assistance took the form of financial help for indigent patients in five government hospitals.  

Arroyo had wanted these projects funded through amendments to the budget.

However, Abad explained, Congress did not include the amendments during the 2013 budget deliberations.

The projects were then endorsed to the Executive for funding.

“We noted that the projects identified by his office were properly aligned with President [Benigno] Aquino's thrust of providing quality education and health services for the country's underprivileged,” said Abad. “We thus accommodated his request by charging the fund source for these projects against DAP."

The DBM secretary emphasized that the release of funds for projects identified by Arroyo were not connected to the Corona impeachment.

"We want to counter the impression that DAP was misused to serve the Administration's interests, particularly with respect to the impeachment and ouster of the former Chief Justice,” Abad added.

“This is not true.” — DVM, GMA News