THE Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the indictment of former President Benigno S. Aquino III in connection with the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).
In a news statement issued on Wednesday, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales said her office found probable cause to indict Aquino for Usurpation of Legislative Powers under Article 239 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) over DAP.
In its earlier decision, the Ombudsman said there was no probable cause to file charges against Aquino, but it found probable cause to charge former Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” B. Abad.
However, in a resolution dated May 28, 2018—which was approved by the Ombudsman on June 14, 2018—the Special Panel partially granted the motion for reconsideration filed by complainant-movants Carlos Isagani Zarate, Renato Reyes, Benjamin Valbuena, Dante LA Jimenez, Mae Paner, Antonio Flores, Gloria Arellano and Bonifacio Carmona Jr.
“We welcome the grant of our motion for reconsideration by the Ombudsman by now indicting ex-President Aquino as among the respondents,” Zarate said.
“However, we believe that Aquino and Abad should not be indicted for the charge of usurpation of legislative power only, but they should be indicted, as well, for technical malversation and graft cases as both author and architect of the multibillion presidential pork barrel called DAP,” the lawmaker from Bayan Muna said.
According to Zarate, they are now studying other options to make the previous administration more accountable.
It will be recalled that in 2014, the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional the following acts committed in pursuance of the DAP: (1) withdrawal of unobligated allotments from the implementing agencies; and the declaration of the withdrawn unobligated allotments and unreleased appropriations as savings prior to the end of the fiscal year without complying with the statutory definition of savings contained in the General Appropriations Act; and (2) the cross-border transfers of the savings of the Executive to augment the appropriations of other offices outside the Executive branch.
Moreover, the Special Panel denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Abad, thus, affirming Abad’s earlier criminal indictment for the same offense and his administrative liability.
The charge stems from the unlawful issuance of National Budget Circular (NBC) 541 to implement the DAP involving P72 billion, which authorized the withdrawal of unobligated allotments of agencies with low levels of obligations as of June 30, 2012.
“A reevaluation of the case establishes that the individual actions of respondent Aquino and respondent-movant Abad showed a joint purpose and design to encroach on the powers of Congress by expanding the meaning of savings to fund programs, activities and projects under the DAP,” the resolution read.
According to the Ombudsman, in a June 25, 2012, memorandum, “respondent Aquino, by marginal notes, specified his unqualified approval on the following requests: grant of omnibus authority to consolidate fiscal year 2012 savings/unutilized balances and its realignment; and grant of authority to withdraw unobligated balances of national government agencies for slow-moving projects/expenditures as of 30 June 2012 and its realignment.”
The resolution added that Aquino had the authority and the duty to look into each item on the memorandum before signifying his approval.
“It is thus clear that respondent-movant Abad sought the approval of respondent Aquino on both the request for authority to pool savings to fund the DAP and the request for omnibus authority to pool savings/unutilized balances. In both instances, respondent Aquino knowingly gave his approval. His approval prompted the issuance of NBC 541, which directed the withdrawal of unobligated allotments and unreleased appropriations and their declaration as savings, which is contrary to law,” it added.
Under Article 239 of the RPC, the penalties of prision correccional in its minimum period and temporary special disqualification shall be imposed upon an executive or judicial officer who shall encroach upon the powers of the Legislative branch of the government, either by making general rules or regulations beyond the scope of authority, or by attempting to repeal a law or suspending the execution thereof.