OPINION FROM THE WALL OF RAYMUND FORTUN NOBODY SAID YOU WERE A THIEF, MR. PRESIDENT Obviously concerned about his falling trust ratings, Pres. Noynoy Aquino spoke before the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) and on nationwide television to defend his retention of close to ONE TRILLION PESOS in presidential pork barrel funds and the existence of the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP). A highlight of his speeches was his declaration: I am not a thief. I have searched through most of the major daily newspapers and the internet, and i have YET seen any organisation or columnist accuse PNoy of stealing public funds. So why defend himself on something that wasnt an issue? The answer: BECAUSE HE COULD NOT DEFEND HIMSELF ON THE REAL ISSUES, ON THE REAL ACCUSATIONS, viz: (1) that he bribed congressmen and senators to initiate an impeachment complaint and subsequently convict Chief Justice Renato Corona; and (2) that he violated the Constitution to fund projects that Congress never appropriated for, thereby usurping the Legislatures power of the purse. In his speeches, PNoy answered a question that was not even being asked. Hopefully, in his next speeches, his spin-doctors can make him answer the following: 1. Why was the DAP created in October 2011 and continues to exist today, when there were no savings from appropriated projects? 2. If PNoy knew that the DAP would continue in 2012 and beyond, why didnt his government just include this in the 2012, 2013 and 2014 General Appropriations Law? Could it be that they wanted DAP to be like a bukas na gripo without budgetary limits instead of being tied to a specific amount if it was part of the appropriations for the year? 3. If DAP was really for accelerating disbursements for economic growth, why did Php1 BILLION++ have to pass through the hands of Senators immediately after the impeachment of CJ Corona? Wouldnt the Executive branch already know what were the projects that needed to be accelerated, meaning, they DIDNT need the Senators help to identify projects? Or was DAP merely a convenient excuse in the bribing of public officials? 4. What were these projects of the Senators to which the DAP funds were channeled? Did they really help in accelerating economic growth, or did they just line the Senators pockets? Or will it take a COA Report from the next succeeding President in order for the people to discover the fraud that is becoming blatantly obvious? Mr. President, you may not be a thief. But if you continue to allow your people to misuse the peoples money and/or transfer peoples money in violation of our laws, then you may later be tainted as having tolerated graft and corruption during your term. Im sure that command responsibility is not a foreign term to you. PLEASE SHARE ON YOUR WALL IF YOU AGREE.
Posted on: Sat, 02 Nov 2013 05:56:33 +0000
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