Palace: SC’s DAP ruling placed ‘good men’ in bad light

Malacañang on Thursday criticized the Supreme Court (SC) ruling on the administration's disbursement acceleration program (DAP) for supposedly putting "good men" in President Benigno Aquino III's Cabinet "under fire."

 

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the executive branch was wondering why the SC presumed Cabinet officials as "criminally liable" in its DAP ruling, instead of assuming they acted in good faith.

 

"Dahil sa desisyong ito, ang mabubuting kalihim, ngayon, sinasabi ng desisyon na ito na mayroon silang criminal liability. Hindi lamang po si [Budget] Secretary Butch Abad ang sinasabi," Lacierda said.

 

"Bagamat walang alegasyon na nagnakaw sila ng pera, ito po ay isang epekto ng desisyong ito. Kaya kami po nagtataka why this decision extended all the way to them," he told reporters on Thursday afternoon.

 

The Palace official particularly named Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio "Babes" Singson and Education Secretary Armin Luistro as among the "good men" whom the SC presumed as liable for the DAP.

 

"Sino ba ang nag-implement? Isang matinong tao tulad ni Babes Singson. Isang matinong tao katulad ni Bro. Armin. Sila ngayon ang tinatawag na criminally liable? Sila ang kakasuhan nila? What's the point of saying that project was done for a good reason?" Lacierda said.

 

"Sana pag-aralang mabuti ang desisyon para makita ang epekto sa ating mabubuting tao na nag-implement ng magagandang proyekto," he added.

 

Last week, the SC unanimously declared certain acts under the government's DAP as unconstitutional, including the declaration of unobligated allotments as savings, the cross-border transfers of savings of the executive to other branches of government, and the funding of projects not stated in the national budget. 

 

In its ruling, the SC said the doctrine of operative fact applied to DAP-funded projects, meaning these projects could no longer be ignored or undone.

 

Despite this, the high court said in its DAP ruling that "the doctrine of operative fact... cannot apply to the authors, proponents and implementors of the DAP, unless there are concrete findings of good faith in their favor by the proper tribunals determining their criminal, civil, administrative and other liabilities." 

 

Lacierda said the legal team studying the DAP ruling had not yet determined whether the executive branch will appeal the SC's decision. —NB, GMA News