MANILA -- Senators Joseph Victor Ejercito and Richard Gordon on Thursday said that former president Benigno Aquino III and former budget secretary Florencio Abad should have been slapped with more serious charges by the Ombudsman over the implementation of the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).
The Office of the Ombudsman said Wednesday it had "found probable cause" to sue Aquino for the alleged unlawful issuance of National Budget Circular No. 541 for the implementation of DAP, an economic stimulus program.
Aquino was charged with usurpation of legislative powers, a crime that carries a penalty of imprisonment, ranging from six months and one day to six years.
Abad was also charged with usurpation of legislative powers and was also found guilty of simple misconduct and ordered suspended for three months.
Since he is no longer in office, Abad is ordered to pay a penalty equivalent to three months’ salary.
Ejercito said the usurpation charges against the former president and former budget secretary amounted to “just a slap on the wrist,” and should have been charged at least with technical malversation or even plunder.
“I would think that at the very least, itong (this) DAP case is a technical malversation, kung hindi man (if not) plunder, because of the amount. But at the very least dapat (it should be) technical malversation,” Ejercito said during the Kapihan sa Senado news forum.
He maintained that any re-alignment of the budget outside the General Appropriations Act (GAA) is illegal so a more serious charge should have been filed.
“I was proven right after all by filing that resolution to investigate the DAP program back in 2013, that it was really illegal and it's a case of technical malversation,” Ejercito said.
He said that he has misgivings regarding the usurpation charge filed against Aquino and Abad by outgoing Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, saying that the lower charge may preempt the next Ombudsman from filing a grave case against the former officials.
“The new Ombudsman cannot anymore file a new case (as it) would already constitute double jeopardy," Ejercito said.
Gordon echoed Ejercito’s position, saying that besides technical malversation, the two former officials should also be slapped with graft and corruption charges.
"As chairman of the Committee on Justice and Human Rights, I agree with the Ombudsman that there was usurpation. But, though I don't know all the facts yet, I would have chosen the more stringent offenses, which are graft and corruption and malversation,” he said.
Gordon said it amounts to technical malversation because Aquino and Abad tampered with the appropriations by declaring it as savings so they could spend the fund somewhere else, deliberately substituting their judgment for the judgment of Congress.
The senator, who also chairs the Blue Ribbon Committee, also pointed out that they have committed such act repeatedly -- in the procurement of PHP3.5-billion worth of Dengvaxia vaccine and the alleged misuse of PHP10.6-billion PhilHealth funds allotted for senior citizens -- constitute an aggravating circumstance.
"It goes into habit, which is why they should file a bigger case. Because in Dengvaxia they did the same. They transferred money. Then in the PhilHealth case, again they transferred money for purposes other than what it was intended for,” he said. (PNA)
