Aquino files motion for reconsideration before SC on ‘unconstitutional’ DAP

Denies threat on High Court as ratings drop

MANILA – The Aquino administration filed on July 18 through the Office of the Solicitor General its motion for reconsideration seeking to reverse the Supreme Court’s 13-0 ruling that the President’s alleged economic stimulus scheme, the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), was unconstitutional and illegal.
In a note he released to the press, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr. said the motion contains a comprehensive argument regarding the government’s position on the DAP.
“In seeking reconsideration, the government affirms its respect of the rule of law and its compliance with judicial processes,” he said.
In the motion, Solicitor General Francis H. Jardeleza asked the Supreme Court to reconsider parts of its July 1 decision that declared specific acts and practices under the program unconstitutional.

Through its legal team, led by Solicitor General Jardeleza and retired Supreme Court Justice Vicente Mendoza, the Palace asked the High Court to afford the DAP the presumption of constitutionality and good faith.
“The President and his alter egos, in implementing a decidedly successful program, deserve to be afforded the traditional constitutional presumptions that apply to most other forms of public actions, especially the presumption of good faith,” the Palace said.
This developed as several groups, mostly youth organizations, have come forward to oust President Benigno S. Aquino III through impeachment.
The moves come at a time when Mr. Aquino’s popularity and trust ratings dropped to its lowest point since he assumed office and amidst castigation from his mother’s former Executive Secretary and senior adviser, former Senator Joker Arroyo, for allegedly setting up a presidential autocracy even as he branded the President a “genius devil” for his stance on the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) which has been ruled by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional and illegal.
Mr. Aquino faced the nation in a television address and explain his side on the DAP but in the process threatened the Supreme Court justices for their ruling as his allies moved in Congress to audit and remove their judicial fund.

Drawing flak for his intimidating stance, Mr. Aquino called on people to tie a yellow ribbon to show their support, but when he saw that nobody bothered to follow and that activists, oppositors and the anti-pork barrel groups instead decided to hold their purple and black ribbon protests, the President suddenly mellowed, explaining he was not out to threaten the justices of the High Tribunal.
And on July 18, the Office of the President officially filed a motion for reconsideration for the unanimous SC decision on the unconstitutional DAP by a vote of 14-0 by the highest magistrates, the biggest rebuff yet to Mr. Aquino had earlier led the impeachment of its former Chief Justice Renato Corona in a controversial process marred by the change of hands of several millions of pesos of DAP and other funds from government to the members of the Senate Impeachment Tribunal.
For others, they say the signs are now very clear that the people and now widely dissatisfied with the Aquino administration and others even predict his ouster even before the completion of his term.
Aquino and his loyal followers, of course, are playing down the threats and predictions and instead concentrate on their job to bring growth and development to the country in the remaining two years or until 2016 when the nation elects a new president.
Two impeachment complaints have so far been filed against the President by lawyer Oliver Lozano and former Iloilo congressman Augusto Syjuco Jr. for bribery and violation of the constitution in relation to the multi-billion peso Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) which has been ruled as unconstitutional and illegal by the Supreme Court.
Lawyer Oliver Lozano, who was known for filing impeachment complaints against then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, was the first to file an impeachment complaint against Mr. Aquino.
Lozano coursed his complaint thru Kabataan party list Rep. Terry Ridon who, however, instead would endorse a third complaint to be filed by youth organizations led by Kabataan partylist and Youth Act Now. Any impeachment complaint requires an endorsement by any congressman for the House of Representatives to act on it during its session.
Many other impeachment complaints were being readied by youth organizations from big universities and colleges who are already trooping to the streets to protest the President’s handling of the pork barrel and DAP while poverty continues and unemployment bother millions of people

In the 52-page Motion for Reconsideration, the Executive branch specifically asked the High Tribunal to declare that the withdrawn obligated allotments and unreleased appropriations under the DAP are savings; that cross-border transfers under the DAP are constitutional; and that the President augmented items with appropriation cover under the DAP.
It also asked the Supreme Court to consider that the use of the unprogrammed fund under the DAP complied with the conditions provided in the relevant General Appropriations Acts (GAAs); and that regardless of the nullification of certain acts and practices under the DAP and/or National Budget Circular No. 541, the operative fact doctrine does not operate to impute bad faith to authors, proponents and implementers who continue to enjoy the presumption of innocence and regularity in the performance of official functions and duties.

Apart from the presumption of constitutionality and good faith, the Executive department wanted the High Court to apply other “fundamental norms of constitutional litigation and basic fairness” in resolving the government’s appeal.
This includes the recognition of institutional competence and the value of bureaucratic practices, the understanding of the constitutional role of the Executive in managing the economy, the acknowledgment of the constitutional authority of Congress to define savings, the shared role of the political departments in preparing the budget and the constitutionally-designed minimal role of the Supreme Court on these matters.
In its motion, the Executive branch maintained that the use of savings and unused funds that were pooled under the disbursement mechanism was legal and within President Benigno S. Aquino III’s authority to augment funds or appropriation under Article VI, Section 25(5) of the Constitution.
It also said that the government, through the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), headed by Secretary Florencio Abad, had “properly interpreted” relevant portions in the GAAs involving the legislative parameters for accumulating savings.
The Executive branch argued that mechanisms used to incur savings under the DAP had existed in one form or another throughout all administrations under the 1987 Constitution.
In the absence of any prohibition, “it is the essence of sound management to stop the flow of scarce resources from projects that are failing and not moving, and to reallocate them into projects that have higher chances of success,” the Palace said.
It further warned that if “we follow the Honorable Court’s interpretation, this would effectively deprive millions of Filipinos access to funds for reconstruction and rehabilitation.”
Palace files motion for reconsideration at Supreme Court regarding DAP

On Monday, President Benigno Aquino III had insisted in an address televised live, that the DAP was legal, and issued what many described as a direct challenge – or threat – to the high tribunal.
“This is my message to the Supreme Court: we do not want to reach that point where two co-equal branches of government will go head to head, and that the third branch must intervene,” Aquino said in his national address.

“To the Supreme Court, our message: Do not bar us from doing what we swore to do. Shouldn’t you be siding with us in pushing for reform? Let us, therefore, end this vicious cycle that has taken our people hostage.”
Aquino said he found it “very difficult to understand your decision.”
“Abiding by the principle of presumption of regularity, we assumed that you did the right thing; after all, you are the ones who should ostensibly have a better understanding of the law. And now, when we use the same mechanism—which, you yourselves have admitted, benefit our countrymen—why is it then that we are wrong?”
One of the most stinging criticisms of President Aquino’s defiant tone to the SC was his mother Corazon’s former executive secretary Joker Arroyo when she became President in 1986.
Arroyo, a human rights lawyer who defended his father Sen. Ninoy Aquino before a military tribunal during Ferdinand Marcos’ martial law, emerged early this week from retirement as senator to issue a statement warning that the incumbent was edging towards autocracy, by consolidating power of the three coequal branches under the Constitution – specifically, usurping Congress’ power over the purse with DAP, and threatening the judiciary in its exercise of its duty to interpret the law.

Bayan Muna party-list will endorse the impeachment complaint that will be filed against President Aquino over his unconstitutional disbursement acceleration program, according to Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares who said those seeking to file an impeachment case are within their rights, so Bayan Muna will endorse the complaint.
Colmenares, once a stauch ally of the President, especially in the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona, explained the party will do so not just as a petitioner against the DAP but because there is a ground for impeachment – the violation of the Constitution.
Colmenares rebutted the President’s argument that Section 39 of the Administrative Code justifies the DAP. He said that provision of the Administrative Code had long been struck down by the Supreme Court.
The party-list lawmaker feels this is just Aquino’s “palusot” (excuse) – a buzzword in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona that referred to his excuse for failing to declare his true net worth.

Colmenares maintained that DAP is a form of pork barrel.
He said the government cannot claim that DAP has been good for the economy when the administration has yet to fully account for it. This is a sentiment shared by former budget secretary Benjamin Diokno.

Meanwhile, the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) rebuffed Mr. Aquino’s call for yellow ribbons, saying “Yellow is out, peach is in.”
Bayan Metro Manila chairperson Raymond Palatino declared this as his group launched its own campaign for the impeachment of the country’s Chief Executive dubbed as “Peach ribbons to impeach Aquino.”
The campaign urges the public to wear peach ribbons as a fashion protest statements. It also asks enlightened Filipinos to tie peach ribbons in front of their houses, schools and workplaces to show their support for the impeachment complaints.
The militant umbrella organization also asked the public to adorn their profile pictures on social networking sites with peach ribbons.

“Peach is the color of the time. Yellow ribbons nowadays will be irrelevant, unnecessary and powerless as the color yellow has been proven to bring forth economic hardships to the people and has been used to defend and justify measures raiding the people’s money through the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) and various pork barrel mechanisms in the government,” said Palatino.
“Instead of yellow, the appropriate color of the times is peach. Peach because we support the impeachment bid to make Aquino accountable for his growing crimes and sins to the Filipino people. A President who made Yolanda victims wait for four months before admitting fault for the delay in relief and assistance deserves to be impeached. A President who refused to show remorse or regret for implementing an unconstitutional pork program must be held accountable. Now,” the Bayan Metro Manila chairperson said.

“We will bring our peach ribbons to various protests of the people leading to the fifth State-of- the-Nation Address (SONA) of Aquino on July 28. From this day onwards, a series of actions will be held against various anti-people and anti-national policies of Aquino that will culminate in the Hatol ng Bayan Citizens’ Assembly on July 23 in Quezon City and the giant People’s SONA rally on July 28,” said Palatino.

Palatino aired his statements in reaction to President Benigno Aquino III’s appeal to Filipinos to wear yellow ribbons if they still support him.

The demand was made by Aquino in his speech in front of World Bank president Jim Yong King during the Daylight Dialogue at Malacañang on July 15.

Bayan Metro Manila stressed that the ‘yellow magic’ used by Aquino to deceive the public during his presidential campaign four years ago has already faded. Palatino added that the promises of Aquino’s ‘Tuwid na Daan’ is nothing but a path leading to further intensification of poverty and corruption in the bureaucracy.

The group also cited that the fading of the yellow magic is clearly reflected in the sharp decline of Aquino’s trust and satisfaction ratings conducted recently by Pulse Asia and Social Weather Stations.

“With due respect to those who sincerely believed in the ‘yellow ribbon’ movement when Noynoy Aquino was running for president, this icon has already become synonymous with patronage, deceit and arrogance. If the power of the yellow magic has faded, Aquino has no one to blame but himself and his party-mates for bringing more suffering to the poor in the past four years,” added Palatino.