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Butch Abad, Relampagos face preliminary probe for P400-M DAP releases
By ELIZABETH MARCELO, GMA News
(Updated 3:48 p.m.) Budget Secretary Florencio Abad and Undersecretary Mario Relampagos are facing preliminary investigation for technical malversation and administrative charges in connnection with the allegedly irregular release of almost P400 million from the Disbursement Acceleration Program between 2011 and 2012.
In a statement released Wednesday, the anti-graft body said Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales approved further investigation on the Ombudsman Field Investigation Office (FIO) report recommending the filing of technical malversation and administrative charges against Abad and Relampagos.
The FIO investigation stemmed from two separate complaints filed against Abad by the Kabataan party-list group and private lawyer Bonifacio Alentajan.
Morales, during a hearing at the House of Representatives earlier this month, bared that the FIO has also initiated a motu propio investigation against Abad and President Benigno Aquino III also over DAP controversy.
The FIO investigation report, however, did not make any mention of Aquino.
A source from the Office of the Ombudsman who refused to be identified said the complaint against Aquino was "dismissed" because the allegations “do not amount to an impeachable offense.”
FIO report
Meanwhile, documents, according to the field investigation, showed irregularities in the cross border DAP transfer transactions to the Commission on Audit (COA) and the House of Representatives (HOR).
From the P31.9 billion in DAP funds, Ombudsman field investigators found that the amount of P250 million was released to the HOR for the construction of its legislative library and archive building/congressional e-library.
The investigators, however, said that the HOR project was "not among those approved by the President.”
The amount of P143.7 million, on the other hand, was released to the COA to augment its Information Technology infrastructure program and for the hiring of additional litigation experts as per approved Special Allotment Release Order (SARO).
Abad prepared and signed all memoranda and issuances concerning DAP implementation while Relampagos signed the corresponding SAROs to COA and HOR.
Under the Ombudsman’s rules of procedure, a report from the FIO, upon the approval of the Ombudsman, would still have to go through a preliminary investigation by a special panel of investigators from its central office.
When the special panel’s recommendation to file a case against a public official is approved by the Ombudsman, it is only then that the case can be elevated to anti-graft court Sandiganbayan.
Based on the FIO report, Abad and Relampagos committed technical malversation as defined under Article 220 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) by allowing the illegal release and anomalous use of government funds under DAP from 2011 to 2012
In a ruling issued in July last year, the Supreme Court declared certain provisions of DAP as unconstitutional, among these were the cross-border transfers of the savings of the executive to augment the appropriations of other offices outside the executive as well as the funding of projects, activities and programs that were not legislated under the General Appropriations Act (GAA).
DBM statement
In a statement, the DBM vowed to cooperate with the Ombudsman as the two officials face preliminary probe.
“We look forward as well to the inquiry’s swift and fair conclusion,” the DBM said.
“The preliminary investigation on DAP is a welcome move from the Office of the Ombudsman. Not only will the inquiry enable the parties to present their views on all remaining issues involving DAP, we likewise trust that the Ombudsman will conduct the investigation with the soundest judgment,” it added.
The DBM also sought to clarify "certain terms relevant to the investigation, particularly those that may invite specific public attention."
"First, technical malversation does not suggest that the individuals in question committed acts of graft or corruption," the DBM said.
"Nor does the investigation imply that these individuals used public funds for their personal gain or benefit. Certainly, the inquiry is not a matter of whether individuals had stolen from public coffers," it added.
Corona conviction
The issue over DAP first broke when Sen. Jinggoy Estrada said in a privilege speech in September 2013 that he and 18 of his colleagues in the Senate received P50 million each for voting for the conviction of former Chief Justice Renato Corona in 2012 over the former chief magistrate's alleged misdeclaration in his statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs).
Abad later said the funds released to the senators came from the administration’s DAP.
Abad has since denied allegations of bribery, maintaining that the DBM released funds to the senators based on their letters of request for disbursement to fund various projects supposedly aimed at accelerating economic growth. —NB/RSJ, GMA News
In a statement released Wednesday, the anti-graft body said Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales approved further investigation on the Ombudsman Field Investigation Office (FIO) report recommending the filing of technical malversation and administrative charges against Abad and Relampagos.
The FIO investigation stemmed from two separate complaints filed against Abad by the Kabataan party-list group and private lawyer Bonifacio Alentajan.
Morales, during a hearing at the House of Representatives earlier this month, bared that the FIO has also initiated a motu propio investigation against Abad and President Benigno Aquino III also over DAP controversy.
The FIO investigation report, however, did not make any mention of Aquino.
A source from the Office of the Ombudsman who refused to be identified said the complaint against Aquino was "dismissed" because the allegations “do not amount to an impeachable offense.”
FIO report
Meanwhile, documents, according to the field investigation, showed irregularities in the cross border DAP transfer transactions to the Commission on Audit (COA) and the House of Representatives (HOR).
From the P31.9 billion in DAP funds, Ombudsman field investigators found that the amount of P250 million was released to the HOR for the construction of its legislative library and archive building/congressional e-library.
The investigators, however, said that the HOR project was "not among those approved by the President.”
The amount of P143.7 million, on the other hand, was released to the COA to augment its Information Technology infrastructure program and for the hiring of additional litigation experts as per approved Special Allotment Release Order (SARO).
Abad prepared and signed all memoranda and issuances concerning DAP implementation while Relampagos signed the corresponding SAROs to COA and HOR.
Under the Ombudsman’s rules of procedure, a report from the FIO, upon the approval of the Ombudsman, would still have to go through a preliminary investigation by a special panel of investigators from its central office.
When the special panel’s recommendation to file a case against a public official is approved by the Ombudsman, it is only then that the case can be elevated to anti-graft court Sandiganbayan.
Based on the FIO report, Abad and Relampagos committed technical malversation as defined under Article 220 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) by allowing the illegal release and anomalous use of government funds under DAP from 2011 to 2012
In a ruling issued in July last year, the Supreme Court declared certain provisions of DAP as unconstitutional, among these were the cross-border transfers of the savings of the executive to augment the appropriations of other offices outside the executive as well as the funding of projects, activities and programs that were not legislated under the General Appropriations Act (GAA).
DBM statement
In a statement, the DBM vowed to cooperate with the Ombudsman as the two officials face preliminary probe.
“We look forward as well to the inquiry’s swift and fair conclusion,” the DBM said.
“The preliminary investigation on DAP is a welcome move from the Office of the Ombudsman. Not only will the inquiry enable the parties to present their views on all remaining issues involving DAP, we likewise trust that the Ombudsman will conduct the investigation with the soundest judgment,” it added.
The DBM also sought to clarify "certain terms relevant to the investigation, particularly those that may invite specific public attention."
"First, technical malversation does not suggest that the individuals in question committed acts of graft or corruption," the DBM said.
"Nor does the investigation imply that these individuals used public funds for their personal gain or benefit. Certainly, the inquiry is not a matter of whether individuals had stolen from public coffers," it added.
Corona conviction
The issue over DAP first broke when Sen. Jinggoy Estrada said in a privilege speech in September 2013 that he and 18 of his colleagues in the Senate received P50 million each for voting for the conviction of former Chief Justice Renato Corona in 2012 over the former chief magistrate's alleged misdeclaration in his statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs).
Abad later said the funds released to the senators came from the administration’s DAP.
Abad has since denied allegations of bribery, maintaining that the DBM released funds to the senators based on their letters of request for disbursement to fund various projects supposedly aimed at accelerating economic growth. —NB/RSJ, GMA News
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