By SAMMY JULIAN
Manila News Bureau Chief
MANILA – Vice President Jejomar Binay called for a full disclosure of projects that the P140.8-billion Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) funded.
This is “a good starting point” for those who conceived and implemented the controversial program to prove “good faith”, he said.
“The Supreme Court has placed the onus of proving ‘good faith’ on those who conceived and implemented the DAP,” Binay said during the regular meeting of the Rotary Club of Manila. “But where do we start? For me, a good starting point would be to make available to the public all the projects funded by DAP.”
The Vice President said this is “consistent with the tenets of full transparency that is the cornerstone of the Aquino administration.”
The Aquino administration earlier refused to release the official record of projects funded by DAP including the status of the public funds, saying it is still conducting a “comprehensive review” of the Supreme Court decision that declared parts of the mechanism unconstitutional.
Binay also expressed his support to the proposal for an independent audit of the DAP funds which “should be done as soon as possible.”
According to the Vice President, the SC decision and the separate concurring opinions are “rather clear, if not brutally frank, on the matter of accountability.”
“There is no room to speculate or look for hidden clues in the decision of the high court,” he said. “It is essential that we see this cleansing of government to its just conclusion—public service without taint of self-interest, without a tinge of deception and political persecution.”/PN
