IT may be perhaps the biggest challenge of his presidency. Benigno “PNoy” Aquino III faces impeachment cases to oust him from office, following the decision of the Supreme Court (SC) that the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) is unconstitutional.
In a televised speech, PNoy responded to the highest court’s ruling, and tried to explain to the Filipino people the rationale of the controversial DAP program, and how he believes the SC should reconsider its decision.
As ABS-CBN news reported, Aquino contended that his administration never violated the law. He reiterated that the DAP merely sought to hasten the release of funds to provide for the needs of the public.
“DAP is not a project—it is an efficient way of spending the budget; it follows the law and adheres to the mandate granted to the Executive Branch. We did this to properly allocate funds, and by so doing maximize the benefits that the people may receive,” PNoy said.
The President criticized that the SC seemed to have overlooked a provision in the Administrative Code of 1987, which gives the Executive the authority to use savings in appropriations to cover deficits.
Section 39 of Book IV, Chapter 5 of the Administrative Code provides that, “any savings in the regular appropriations authorized in the General Appropriations Act for programs and projects of any department, office or agency, may, with the approval of the President, be used to cover a deficit in any other item of the regular appropriations.”
PNoy explained that the SC did not even discuss this provision, which was clearly explained when the DAP was argued by government lawyers. He stressed that this provision in the Administrative Code has not been scrapped.
He also criticized how the SC already assumed there was no good faith in the implementation of the DAP.
“But in their decision, the judges immediately presume the absence of good faith, which would then have to be proven through trial. What happened to the principle of innocent until proven guilty?”
Speaking to kababayans, especially his supporters: “DAP is good. Our intentions, our processes, and the results were correct. Bosses, I promise you: I will not allow your suffering to be prolonged—especially if we could do what we can as early as now.”
In his speech, Aquino also lambasted the SC, expressing his lack of faith in how the high court arrived at the controversial decision.
“My message to the Supreme Court: We do not want two equal branches of government to go head to head, needing a third branch to step in to intervene. We find it difficult to understand your decision,” PNoy said.
“You had done something similar in the past, and you tried to do it again; there are even those of the opinion that what you attempted to commit was far graver.”
ABS-CBN News explained in its report that although PNoy did not specify it, the President is believed to have been referring to the Supreme Court’s use of the Judiciary Development Fund, where savings have been used for other purposes other than the money was intended for.
“In the system the Supreme Court is ordering us to bring back, it might take two more rainy seasons before we are able to relocate our countrymen. Let us remember: about twenty typhoons come our way each year. Is it right to ask those living in hazardous areas to just leave everything to prayer?” PNoy said.
Before his televised speech, surveys showed how PNoy’s popularity has been affected negatively by the issue. His net satisfaction rating plunged to its lowest level since he became the President in 2010.
According to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, President Aquino’s rating plunged 20 points, with a rating of plus 25 percent (moderate)—down from plus 45 (good) in March—based on the June 27 to 30 survey involving 1,200 respondents.
In the Pulse Asia survey conducted from June 24 to July 2, PNoy’s approval rating went down to 56 percent, from a high 70 percent in March. During the same period, his trust rating among respondents dropped to 53 percent, from 69 percent.
After his speech, however, it seems many ordinary people who watched his speech still could not understand the arguments and counter-arguments between the Aquino Administration and the Supreme Court.
In interviews conducted by ABS-CBN News Correspondent Doris Bigornia on TV Patrol with common folks playing Bingo while watching PNoy’s speech, many of them expressed they did not have a grasp of the issue even after the President’s long speech.
They said they also could not comprehend all the talks about “savings” and progress made by the government, when they could not feel these seemingly abstract terms in their own lives.
More than legal debates, it seems that for many people in the lower economic strata, what matters most is what the government is doing to help them put food on the table, roof over their head, and have access to basic social services that will alleviate poverty.
This makes us think how such mindset will affect the impeachment cases filed against him in Congress. Grounds for impeachment raised were culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust. Others even added malversation of public funds.
Aquino and his supporters, however, say the President could not be impeached because he implemented DAP in good faith and sincere intentions.
What do YOU think? Should PNoy be impeached because of the DAP issue?
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Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
