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Stem cell research and many more in DBM list belie urgent reason for DAP

July 21, 2014July 21, 2014 Ellen Leave a comment

Aquino justifies DAP.

When a combative President Aquino addressed the nation Monday last week defending his Disbursement Accelerated Program or DAP which had been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, he made it appear that the projects funded by DAP were cases that bordered between life and death.

To underscore the purported urgent nature of the DAP projects, Aquino shared a text message he got: “On this note, allow me to share a text message I received in the last week. It reads: “The politicians are making fiesta regarding DAP; but to our simple non-legalistic mind, it is like a motorist who parked in a ‘no parking zone’ because he had to rush to save the life of an accident victim, which has more value. I’m praying hard that these people will see the good of the people rather than their own ambition.”

“To this I replied: I think the situation now is similar to what you mentioned, and it might be even worse. I am after all being arrested for parking in an area that up to now hasn’t yet been declared a no-parking zone. Is this reasonable?”

In response to public demand for an accounting of DAP funds, Malacañang released a list containing 116 projects totaling P167, 061,410,000.00. The list said amount released was P144, 378,303,000.

No. 15 of that list was LCOP (Lung Center of the Philippines) titled “Bio-Regenerative Technology Program.”
The description: “To fund the Bio-Regenerative Program aimed at harnessing stem cell research and technology to reconstruct new healthy cells, replacing cancer or dead cells.”

Reacting to that item, Philippine College of Physicians headed by Dr. Tony Leachon issued a statement expressing “ dismay and sadness over the priority funding of P70 million from the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) that went to stem-cell research when the money should have been spent for more urgent and vital healthcare needs. “

Dr. Tony Leachon

The PCP said, “Although, the stem cell treatment can be an innovative medicine, it is not urgent for the government to fund research or harness ways to expedite its practice…Stem cell therapy – an untested, expensive and experimental therapy and doing research on it – is not a national priority in all angles. P70 million DAP money can go a long way in helping many poor patients rather than on unproven therapy that will benefit only a few Filipinos?”

The PCP cited more urgent needs related to health: “The money could have been used for research on scientifically-proven treatment for fatal noncommunicable diseases , for the creation of a national workforce healthcare plan or for upgrading public hospitals like the Philippine General Hospital , PCMC , Fabella hospital , and other DOH or non DOH public hospitals for the poor. “

Lung Center Executive Director Jose Javier Danguilian

Lung Center Executive Director Jose Javier Danguilan

Not surprisingly, Lung Center Executive Director Jose Luis J. Danguilan defended the DAP money the hospital got.

Actually Lung Center got a total of P105 million. No. 14 item in the Malacañanng list is also for LCOP. It’s P35 million for Pediatric Pulmonary Program to “cover health care, equipment, supplies and materials needed for the hospital admission and confinement of children from three months to 18 years of age afflicted with lung diseases under the Pediatric Pulmonary Program.”

Danguilan said the P70 million money was used to purchase equipment and supplies for the LCP Molecular Diagnostics and Cellular Therapeutics Laboratory for research “mainly on dendritic cell vaccine for use in cancer treatment, specifically lung cancer.”

“To spend the money wisely, it was decided that pieces of equipment needed for the Bioregenerative Program and the Pediatric Unit could also be used by the Department of Pathology and Laboratory, the Department of Thoracic Surgery and Surgery, the Department of Pulmonary Medicine and the Department of Radiology,” he said.

Having spent the money properly is not the issue in the DAP but it’s unconstitutionality. P70 million for stem research and many more like the P143 million for Commission on Audit’s IT infrastructure program; P20 million for establishment of National Film Archives; P200 million for the transfer of Department of Tourism Office invalidate the emergency illegal parking justification of Aquino.

Stem cell research and many more in DBM list belie urgent reason for DAP

July 21, 2014July 21, 2014 Ellen Leave a comment

Aquino justifies DAP.

In response to public demand for an accounting of DAP funds, Malacañang released a list containing 116 projects totaling P167, 061,410,000.00. The list said amount released was P144, 378,303,000.

Dr. Tony Leachon

Lung Center Executive Director Jose Javier Danguilan

Not surprisingly, Lung Center Executive Director Jose Luis J. Danguilan defended the DAP money the hospital got.

Aquino’s DAP: lethal mix of ignorance and arrogance

July 15, 2014July 15, 2014 Ellen Leave a comment

President Aquino takes on the Supreme Court.

President Aquino’s belligerent stand against the Supreme Court’s decision declaring his pet initiative, the Disbursement Acceleration Program, unconstitutional was not at all surprising considering his defense of Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, Jr. last Friday.

Reading and listening to his speech was not only appalling. It was disturbing.

It showed the lethal combination of ignorance and arrogance.

The issue is his usurpation of Congress’ power of the purse which is a violation of the Constitution and he talked about parking zones!

The President cited provisions the 1987 Administrative Code as legal basis of DAP. He said, “..we were surprised to find that the Supreme Court decision did not take into account our legal basis for DAP. How can they say that our spending methods are unconstitutional when they did not look into our basis? Even until now, Section 39 of the Administrative Code is in effect, along with its other sections.”

What he was referring to was Book VI, Chapter 5, Section 39 of the 1987 Administrative Code of the Philippines which states, “Except as otherwise provided in the General Appropriations Act, 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…”

Did he read the part, “be used to cover a deficit …”. I dare Malacanang to show a certification of deficit from the agencies it gave DAP funding to.

In what is an indication that Malacañang is hard put scrambling for justification for DAP, Aquino cited Sec. 39 of the 1987 Administrative Code while the Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza invoked Sec. 38 in his defense of DAP before the High Court.

Section 38 on suspension of Expenditure of Appropriations states:”Except as otherwise provided in the General Appropriations Act and whenever in his judgment the public interest so requires, the President, upon notice to the head of office concerned, is authorized to suspend or otherwise stop further expenditure of funds allotted for any agency, or any other expenditure authorized in the General Appropriations Act, except for personal services appropriations used for permanent officials and employees.”

The main decision penned by Justice Lucas Bersamin said, “The withdrawal and transfer of unobligated allotments and the pooling of unreleased appropriations were invalid for being bereft of legal support.
Justice Antonio T. Carpio, in his concurring decision, lengthily explained why DAP cannot be legal based on the 1987 Administrative Code issued by President Corazon Aquino, which her son now is clinging to to save his presidency.

Carpio’s explanation: “Section 38, Chapter V, Book VI of the Administrative Code of 1987 allows the President ‘ to suspend or otherwise stop further expenditure ‘ of appropriated funds but this must be for a legitimate purpose, like when there are anomalies in the implementation of a project or in the disbursement of funds.

“Section 38 cannot be read to authorize the President to permanently stop so as to cancel the implementation of a project in the GAA because the President has no power to amend the law, and the GAA is a law.

“ Section 38 cannot also be read to authorize the President to impound the disbursement of funds for projects approved in the GAA because the President has no power to impound funds approved by Congress.

“The President can suspend or stop further expenditure of appropriated funds only after the appropriated funds have become obligated , that is, a contract has been signed for the implementation of the project. The reason for the suspension or stoppage must be legitimate, as when there are anomalies. The President has the Executive power to see to it that the GAA is faithfully implemented, without anomalies. However, despite the order to suspend or stop further expenditure of funds the appropriated funds remain obligated until the contract is rescinded. As long as the appropriated funds are still obligated, the funds cannot constitute savings because ‘savings’ as defined in the GAA, must come from appropriations that are ‘free from any obligation or encumbrance.’

“Section 38 cannot be used by the President to stop permanently the expenditure of unobligated appropriated funds because that would amount to a Presidential power to impound funds appropriated in the GAA.

“The President has no power to impound unobligated funds in the GAA for two reasons: first, the GAA once it becomes law cannot be amended by the President and an impoundment of unobligated funds is an amendment of the GAA since it reverses the will of Congress;second , the Constitution gives the President the power to prevent unsound appropriations by Congress only through his line item veto power, which he can exercise only when the GAA is submitted to him by Congress for approval.

“Once the President approves the GAA or allows it to lapse into law, he himself is bound by it.
“There is no presidential power of impoundment in the Constitution and this Court cannot create one . Any ordinary legislation giving the President the power to impound unobligated appropriations is unconstitutional.
“The power to impound unobligated appropriations in the GAA, coupled with the power to realign such funds to any project, whether existing or not in the GAA, is not only a usurpation of the power of the purse of Congress and a violation of the constitutional separation of powers, but also a substantial re-writing of the 1987 Constitution….

“Section 38 cannot be invoked by the President to create ‘savings’ by ordering the permanent stoppage of disbursement of appropriated funds, whether obligated or not. If the appropriated funds are already obligated,then the stoppage of disbursements of funds does not create any savings because the funds remain obligated until the contract is rescinded. If the appropriated funds are unobligated , such permanent stoppage amounts to an impoundment of appropriated funds which is unconstitutional.

“The authority of the President to suspend or stop the disbursement of appropriated funds under Section 38 can refer only to obligated funds;otherwise, Section 38 will be patently unconstitutional because it will constitute a power by the President to impound appropriated funds…

“Therefore, it is grave error to construe that the DAP is an exercise of the President’s power to impound under Section 38, Chapter VI, Book VI of the Administrative Code of 1987.

“The OSG and DBM do not interpret Section 38 as granting the President the power to impound. The essence of impoundment is not to spend. The essence of DAP is to ‘spend, spend,spend,’ in the words of the Solicitor General.”

Harry Roque, one of the petitioners representing the Concerned Citizens Movement, said, it is elementary: “Administrative Code cannot prevail over the Constitution.”

Is that too much for President Aquino to understand?

Aquino’s DAP doctrine: good intentions superior to Constitution

July 13, 2014July 13, 2014 Ellen Leave a comment

Aquino stands by Secretary Butch Abad.

Finally, President Aquino will speak to the people of the Philippines on the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program or DAP today (July 14),Malacañang announced.

Today is exactly two weeks after the Supreme Court in a unanimous decision declared as unconstitutional Aquino and his Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad pet project.

Malacañang sources said Aquino was stunned by the voting (13-0. Not even his appointees especially Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno sided with him!) he threw tantrums. He wants to wage war against the Supreme Court justices.

Wonder no more why House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. wants an investigation on the Judiciary Development Fund being administered by the Supreme Court.

Last Friday Aquino gave the public a preview of what he is going to say today. During the cabinet meeting on the 2015 budget, Aquino announced that he was rejecting the resignation of Abad. “I have decided not to accept his resignation. To accept his resignation is to assign to him a wrong and I cannot accept the notion that doing right by our people is wrong.”

Yesterday Abad, who was silent the past two weeks issued a statement taking responsibility for the illegal DAP which was the reason, he said, he tendered his resignation. But there was no apology or remorse for making a mockery of the budget process with the juggling of P374 billion.

He just said: Yesterday, however, before we deliberated on the proposed 2015 budget, the President announced that he would not accept my resignation. He explained that accepting it was tantamount to acknowledging wrongdoing on my end, contrary to the fact that the DAP—as conceived and implemented—proved beneficial to the country’s economy and the Administration’s bid for rapid and inclusive growth.”

Applause to support Aquino’s DAP doctrine of ‘good intentions.’

We do not know what Abad means by “rapid and inclusive growth.” Definitely it does not include me and my friends, my neighbors and a lot of people I know. We also do not know what formula they used to specifically attribute to DAP their claim of “rapid and inclusive growth.”

Aquino’s doctrine of governance is a takeoff from the Florentine philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli’s “The end justifies the means.”

Cabinet members were seen applauding when Aquino announced his rejection of Abad’s resignation. The only one who was not clapping was Vice President Jejomar Binay,the housing czar.

Following Aquino’s doctrine that as long as you have good intentions, it is right, we should applaud the New People’s Army for killing soldiers who, in their mind, are agents of an oppressive regime. They say their intention is to liberate the Filipino people from oppression.

We should call for the abolition of the Commission on Human Rights for criticizing Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and condemning vigilantes, who kill people without going through the justice system. The vigilantes say what they want is peace and order, which we all want.

Since good intention is a good excuse to trash the Constitution, the late President Ferdinand Marcos should then be buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani because he claims to have saved the Philippines from becoming a communist state by declaring Martial Law.

Imelda Marcos, should be given an award for building all those edifices and medical institutions – Cultural center, Philippine International Convention Center, Philippine Heart Center, National Kidney Center, and many more – all in pursuit of her wish for the Filipino people to have “The True, the Good, and the Beautiful.”

There’s an added problem though: Aquino believes he has the monopoly of good intentions.

With SC decision on DAP, expect impeachment charges vs Aquino

July 2, 2014July 2, 2014 Ellen Leave a comment

SC decision: reminder to Aquino that good intentions do not necessarily mean right and legal.

SC decision on DAP: reminder to Aquino that good intentions do not necessarily mean right and legal.

With the Supreme Court’s ruling that President Aquino and Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad’s baby- the Disbursement Acceleration Program – is unconstitutional, expect impeachment charges against Aquino to be filed soon.

The progressive groups –Anakbayan and Kilusang Mayo Uno- have hinted on impeachment in their statements hailing the High Court’s decision on DAP.

Anakbayan’s Vencer Crisostomo said, “Aquino and his pork gang should resign now in shame. Calls for him to be removed from office via impeachment or via a people’s uprising is growing and is increasingly justified. Aquino and his pork gang should be ousted.”

KMU’s Elmer Labog said, “The SC ruling could only further fuel calls for the Pork Barrel King’s resignation, if not ouster from office.”

Yesterday, the Supreme Court, voting unanimously (13-0) ruled as unconstitutional “cross border transfers of the savings of the Executive to augment appropriation of other offices outside the Executive; funding of projects, activities and programs that were not covered by any appropriation in the General Appropriations Act; and withdrawal of unobligated allotment from the implementing agencies and the declaration of the withdrawn, unobligated allotments and unreleased appropriations as savings prior to the end of the fiscal year and without complying with the statutory definition of savings contained in the GAA.”

The President’s trusted one.

It will be recalled that the DAP came into the public knowledge after Sen. Jinggoy Estrada delivered a privilege speech September last year complaining why Malacanang is zeroing on him and his two colleagues in the opposition – Juan Ponce- Enrile and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.

Not knowing about DAP then, Estrada revealed that he and 19 other senators received at P50 million to P100 million in additional lump-sum allocations and linked the huge sums to their votes for the conviction then Chief Justice Renato Corona in the 2012 impeachment trial.

Abad later confirmed the release of P1.107 billion to 20 senators and said that the funds came from the DAP.

It was later found out that there were a number of infrastructure projects in the GAA that were called canceled and the funds were re-aligned to projects submitted by the senators.

Malacanang supporters then twitted that Estrada’s speech was a “dud.” Well, they spoke too soon.

The SC decision has given enemies of the Aquino a potent weapon to attack him and that would be through the filing of impeachment complaints. But the question is, will the impeachment complaint prosper?

House Speaker Sonny Belmonte is said to be in firm control of the Lower House but Malacañang can’t be complacent. They will have to make sure that 191 of the 290 congressmen won’t succumb to the lure of the enemies of Aquino. Without DAP and the Priority Development Assistance Fund (which has also been declared unconstitutional by the SC), Malacanang would be hard put to match the incentives of those who want to oust Aquino.

This is definitely a blow to Aquino and his “Tuwid na Daan.

This will hurt his ego but it should tell him and his advisers that just because they are in power, they are not infallible. Some humility should do them good.