JV Ejercito willing to return P10-M in DAP funds

Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito on Wednesday expressed readiness to return the P10 million Disbursement Acceleration Program fund allocated to him when he was still a member of the House of Representatives if the court required recipients to do so.

 

In a press statement, Ejercito admitted that he was a recipient of DAP but added he was unaware the  that it was the source of the additional allocation given to him.  The senator said he thought the extra fund was from the savings of the Congress.

It was not immediately clear from his statement how Ejercito would return the P10 million assigned to him under the DAP since they the actual funds didn't pass through his office as San Juan congressman.

 

As a House member, Ejercito was entitled to P70 million allocation from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) for soft and hard projects.

 

He said the DAP funds he received were used for projects under the National Dairy Authority and Technology and Livelihood Resource Center. He said the DAP funds were delivered in the form of milk and dairy products for school children in San Juan and trainings.

 

He also said the accountability of DAP should lie in the executive.

 

Meanwhile, former Senator Edgardo Angara said the DAP fund he received went to five infrastructure projects, whose contracts were awarded by the Department of Public Works and Highway  through open and transparent bidding .

 

In a press statement, Angara said three of the five projects went to : Abra, Antique and Cagayan which were in dire need of development funds and infrastructure upgrading

 

“The remaining two (one for flood control and the other for road widening) went to Quezon City projects that were deemed as vital by the QC engineering District,” he said.
 

Angara said the five projects, according to the DPWH, had been satisfactorily completed. —NB, GMA News