Morales: DAP case vs. Noynoy, Abad not meant to cater to public expectation

The usurpation case against former President Benigno Aquino III and former Budget chief Florendo "Butch" Abad was resolved based on the evidence and not for the satisfaction of public expectation, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales said on Thursday.

"We decide cases when they are ripe for resolution. If they are not for resolution, we do not prematurely decide cases just to cater to public expectation," Morales told reporters in an interview.

Morales also rebuked President Rodrigo Duterte, who accused her of sitting on the cases involving Aquino and Abad on the P72-billion Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

"Sitting on the cases? I am always saying we go by the evidence. If the case is complicated, it takes a longer time. But if it's simple it does not take that much time," Morales said.

In a resolution approved by Morales on June 14, the Office of the Ombudsman found probable cause to indict Aquino and Abad for usurpation of legislative powers under Article 239 of the Revised Penal Code before the Sandiganbayan. 

The case stemmed from the alleged unlawful realignment of government savings by virtue of National Budget Circular (NBC) No. 541 to stimulate the economy during Aquino's term as president.

NBC 541, which sanctions the DAP, allows the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to withdraw “unobligated allotments of agencies with low levels of obligations as of June 30, 2012, both for continuing and current allotments.”

The Ombudsman was acting on the motions for reconsideration filed by Bayan Muna party-list Representative Carlos Zarate, Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes, Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption founding chairman Dante Jimenez, Mae Paner, Antonio Flores, Gloria Arellano and Bonifacio Carmona Jr. that was partially granted by the Ombudsman.

In separate statements, Zarate and Reyes said graft and malversation charges should have also been recommended against Aquino and Abad.

Morales, however, said the complainants have other means to appeal their case if the usurpation charge against the former chief executive and his DBM chief are insufficient for them.

"I am the Ombudsman. I go by the evidence. Now if they believe that the result of the investigation did not sit well with them, they have options to question it," Morales said.

Aquino, through his spokesperson Abigail Valte, questioned the findings of the Ombudsman even if the camp of the former president has yet to receive a copy of the resolution.

The Liberal Party, Aquino's political party, for its part, reiterated that the DAP was "crafted with the intention to deliver the services and infrastructure needed by the people and guided by the laws available to the executive."

Malacañang, meanwhile, welcomed the Ombudsman's resolution.

"Let justice be done!" presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said in a message to reporters. —KBK, GMA News