Disbarment case filed against Ombudsman

A disbarment case against Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales was filed at the Supreme Court (SC), for clearing former president Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III from any liability over his administration's Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

In his complaint, former Manila City councilor Greco Belgica accused Morales of violating the Lawyer's Oath and the Canon of Professional Responsibility when she approved earlier this month a resolution absolving Aquino of the charges for technical malversation, usurpation of legislative powers, and graft.

"In absolving the president (Aquino) of criminal liability by omitting his name in the discussion relative to the finding of probable cause against former (Budget) Secretary Florencio Abad, the Filipino people were deprived of their right to procedural due process."

"Hence, the Ombudsman violated her lawyer's oath when she deprived of their right to due procedural due process, a right enshrined in our Constitution and mandated by law," the complaint read.

Morales was also accused of violating Rule 6.01 of the Canon of Professional Responsibility when she " failed to perform her duty to see that justice is done."

The complaint also claimed Morales violated Canon 7 and Rule 7.03 of the same code for her alleged failure to "uphold the integrity and dignity" of the legal profession in clearing Aquino of the charge of usurpation of legislative powers.

"Taking into consideration the fact that the former president appointed her, her conduct of favoring the former president adversely reflected her fitness to practice law," the complaint read.

While clearing Aquino, Morales indicted Abad for usurpation of legislative powers for unlawfully issuing the National Budget Circular No. 541 that was used to carry out the DAP.

Ombudsman argued that the technical malversation and graft complaints were dismissed because "they cannot be indicted for technical malversation since they did not "apply" public funds to other purposes."

The DAP was challenged before the high court by several petitioners, one of whom was Belgica, with the magistrates striking down as unconstitional in 2014 several of its provisions such as the pooling of public funds even before the end of the fiscal year, using savings to aid offices outside the executive branch and Office of the President, and funding projects not found in the General Appropriations Act.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Million People March organizers want DAP scrapped

MANILA - Organizers of the Million People March in Makati City on Friday said they will renew their call to scrap all pork barrel funds including the controversial disbursement acceleration program (DAP) of the Department of Budget and Management.

Patricia Tan, spokesperson of the Scrap Pork Network, said the DAP is a form of pork barrel because of the discretionary power given to President Aquino and lawmakers over the fund.

"We consider that as pork. Kasama siya sa pork kasi isang definition of pork for us would be kailangan mo pa siyang ibigay sa legislators. Sinabi nga nila the P50 million for each senator came from DAP," she said in an interview on ABS-CBN's Umagang Kay Ganda.

Tan, however, said there is no proof that the DAP fund releases were used to bribe senators to convict Chief Justice Renato Corona during his impeachment trial.

"Mahirap kasi siya i-connect na eksaktong ganun yung nangyari. Sinasabi lang nila pero sa ngayon wala pa naman lumalabas na pruweba o witness. Sana kung may isang senador na sinasabi niya pinangakuan ako ng P50 million para bumoto ng convict siguro yun masasabi natin na na-impluwensiya. Pero kahit si Jinggoy sinasabi niya na tinanggap niya na nakatanggap ako ng pondo pero hindi nakaimpluwensiya ng boto ko," she said.

"Maybe if somebody comes out and says: 'Yes, I voted to convict because I was promised P50 million.' Nobody has said that," she added.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada first revealed the DAP after saying in a privilege speech that he got an additional P50 million in funds after he voted to convict Chief Justice Renato Corona in his Senate impeachment trial.

Estrada said the additional funds did not influence his vote in the Corona trial.

Budget Secretary Butch Abad earlier said the DAP was established to ramp up government spending after sluggish disbursements caused the country's GDP growth to slow down to just 3.6% in 2011.

He explained that aside from savings of agencies, the DAP is also comprised of unprogrammed funds due to revenues generated beyond the target such as GOCC (government-owned and controlled corporation) dividends, and budgets for slow-moving items or projects that have been realigned to support faster-disbursing projects.

Atty. Michelle Estor, a government employee, said participants in the anti-pork rally want to remove the discretionary powers of officials over public funds. She said it would be better to identify which projects would be funded by taxpayers' money before the funds are disbursed.

"What we want to remove is patronage politics, where people feel indebted because they were given money and projects," she said.

She said protesters will continue to call on government to scrap all kinds of pork barrel funds, punish those who pocketed the priority development assistance funds and make an accounting of how much pork has been spent.

The organizers also said they do not support calls for the ouster of President Aquino but said they cannot prevent people who have that agenda from joining the march.

"Hindi natin mapi-prevent 'yan. We have to be realistic na posibleng mangyari 'yan either a genuine push for that kind of call, which the Million People March does not share or may gustong manggulo," Estor said.

She said volunteer organizations joining the march have agreed that any call for Aquino's ouster will not be supported.

“Wala 'yan sa usapan. We will do everything in our power not to turn the rally into that situation. Linawin natin na walang call for PNoy to resign. Hindi 'yan ang panawagan ng Million People March. Ayaw naming magkaganun ang mangyayari mamaya,” she said.

She added that a change in leadership is not the solution to the problem about the pork barrel.

The Million People March will start at 3 p.m. at the Ayala corner Paseo de Roxas. A program will follow at 5 p.m., where several personalities including former National Treasurer Leonor Briones, Church leaders and Justice stakeholders will commit to “scrap pork.”

Performers include Lolita Carbon, Cookie Chua, Bayang Barrios, Jograd dela Torre, Darryl Shy and others.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com