BY PRINCE GOLEZ
Manila Reporter
MANILA – President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III turned down the resignation of Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
Abad is under fire for engineering the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) that the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional.
Abad submitted his resignation letter Thursday last week yet.
“I decided not to accept his resignation,” Aquino said.
While the “current atmosphere” projects the government’s program as “bad for our people,” Aquino said it has benefited many people also.
“To accept his resignation is to assign to him a wrong and I cannot accept the notion that doing what is right for our people is wrong,” the President said.
In 2011, Abad crafted DAP to hasten public spending. The funds, which were allocated to legislators after the impeachment trial of then Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, were taken from previous slow-moving projects.
There were claims that DAP was a reward to lawmakers who voted for Corona’s ouster.
Amid calls for Abad to clarify the DAP, Malacañang defended the Budget chief, saying they are confident Abad did not benefit from the so-called stimulus package.
They said “91 percent” of DAP disbursements benefitted the people economically.
An investigation is ongoing on the other “nine percent” allotted to legislators, said Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda.
Aquino announced his decision not to accept Abad’s resignation before the start of the Cabinet budget presentation at the Aguinaldo State Dining Room of Malacañang yesterday.
Abad was present during the meeting.
Before the start of the budget presentation, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Secretary Teresita Deles prayed for the entire Cabinet “at a time that is more challenging than most.”
Deles likewise defended fellow Cabinet members who were caught in the middle of the DAP controversy.
“Legal cases have been filed against our fellow Cabinet members ascribing bad faith and more, where there is none,” she said.
Aside from DAP, she also mentioned the crafting of the Bangsomoro Basic Law, the recovery of “Yolanda”-affected areas, and the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms as the administration’s current challenges.
She noted that such challenges “have so sorely tested our souls.”
She then prayed for guidance and strength for the entire Cabinet and for the Chief Executive.
“Make us politic enough to becoming as serpents and gentle as doves. Sharpen our skills and keep fresh our vision,” she said.
She also asked for God’s grace and humility as the administration continues its mandate for tuwid na daan. (With a report from the Philippine News Agency/PN)
