10 Questions For PNOY

So there it is. The President violated the Constitution, he violated the General Appropriations Act, he “castrated” Congress of its powers said SC Justice Antonio Carpio, yet he did nothing illegal. Heck he did nothing wrong at all. And we’re not even talking here about how the DAP was used to… uh… persuade congressmen and senators about the need to impeach former Chief Justice Renato Corona. Or how DAP eventually enriched Jenny Napoles and her gang.

Here are  questions Pres. Noynoy Aquino should answer about the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) and the pork barrel.

1. Now that the Supreme Court has ruled the key elements of your Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) unconstitutional, do you still insist that you did not do anything wrong or illegal?

2. Is it true that Secretary Manuel Roxas II got 10 Billion from DAP for DILG Projects?

3. What was your criteria in approving projects, activities and programs funded by DAP? Why spend P2 billion, for example, for infrastructure projects in your home province of Tarlac? Or P5.4 billion for landowners’ compensation that would partly go to the compensation of your family’s Hacienda Luisita?

4. If you truly believed in the need to adjust the national budget or fund items not contemplated under the General Appropriations Act (GAA), why did you not ask for a supplemental budget from Congress instead of coursing it through a legally tenuous mechanism like the DAP?

5. Why were DAP allocations of anywhere from P50 million to P100 million given only to senators who voted to impeach former Chief Justice Renato Corona in 2012? Similarly, why were DAP allocations of at least P10 million each given only to congressmen who voted to impeach Corona? Don’t you consider this bribery?

6 Considering that during the Arroyo administration, you riled against and even filed a bill to curb the President’s powers to impound and realign funds appropriated by Congress, what made you change your mind such that when it was your turn to be president, you created a mechanism that would surpass what your predecessor did?

7. As the approving authority for the release of funds under DAP, don’t you think you are also accountable if said funds end up in the pockets of corrupt public officials and private persons?

8. Why does your office refuse to release the full details of the PAPs funded by DAP?

9. In the spirit of accountability and “daang matuwid,” shouldn’t you, Mar Roxas and , Budget Secretary Butch Abad, resign from your posts?#

PNOY Should Submit to Supreme Court

As President of the Philippines,  President Aquino should serve as the exemplar of subjection to the rule of Law. And the Sereno Court err Supreme Court has the final word when it comes to interpreting that law. Aquino knows that perfectly well. He wouldn’t have spent megabucks to fund the impeachment of former Chief Justice Renato Corona in 2012 if he did not recognise the power wielded by a judge’s words and the finality the bang of a gavel puts in these.