By SAMMY JULIAN
Manila News Bureau Chief
MANILA – Malacañang vowed to respect the final decision of the Supreme Court in the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).
The government, through the Office of the Solicitor General, asked the high court to reverse its ruling on DAP.
Any verdict will be accepted, said Presidential Communications Operations Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr.
The Supreme Court declared unconstitutional certain acts and practices in DAP on July 1.
According to Coloma, the motion for reconsideration of the Palace filed on Friday contained “all the salient arguments being put forward by the Executive Branch in asking the magistrates to revisit the legal issues.”
But Coloma also said, “We are a government of laws and not of men…Of course, we will accept the final decision.”
He dismissed accusations that President Benigno Aquino III had become defiant or arrogant in defending the DAP despite the SC ruling.
“For us, there was neither defiance or arrogance, just compliance with judicial due process,” Coloma stressed.
By seeking a reconsideration of the SC decision on DAP, the President is actually following the rule of law, he said.
“The President maintained a respectful tone in his speech on Monday,” Coloma noted. “He said what he believed was needed to convey the government’s rationale for seeking reconsideration.”
The Aquino administration is likewise preparing to file a supplemental budget to cover pending projects funded by DAP, according to Coloma.
“We are now in the process of getting updates from the different departments on the status of these projects kaya ‘yon ang mapapasama sa proposal for a supplemental budget and this would serve as an update to the list initially presented by DBM (Department of Budget and Management) in the spirit of accountability,” Coloma said./PN
