Criticisms plagued Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) and Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of Pnoy Administration which were used as funding system to prioritize country’s developments. It’s employed for Local Governance prioritized-projects that really need funding to hasten the vital developments of each province in the Philippines. The fund’s released to accelerate the important aspects of local projects submitted by leaders.
Opposition leaders interpreted DAP and PDAF were unconstitutional based on the Philippine Constitution which needed rigid consultation from the Senate. The Supreme Court ruling on the DAP was one of the most difficult challenges for the President in 2014. This also brought on the President’s lowest performance and trust ratings. The High Tribunal’s decision declaring the DAP unconstitutional can also be blamed for the uncertainty in government spending, which slowed down the country’s economic growth. The Supreme Court was bound to uphold its earlier decision and junk the motion for reconsideration filed by the Office of the Solicitor General. The voting on the matter, however, was deferred until the resumption of en banc sessions in January 2015.
Moreover, it has been employed by Pnoy Governance with clarity on purpose, implementation and monitoring. Other government sectors couldn’t enliven their increasing demand for development that needed funding. The resources for their projects were scrutinized by other political observers as unfair when it comes to funding. The Pnoy Administration’s continued to persuade the Filipino people that with this system, the Philippine economy’s constantly increasing due to the fact of its quick funding response.
The negative aspects of these two systems are contested by the opposition leaders, groups and individuals who thought that the present administration will have the ways and means to shuffle the funds without the knowledge of the Senate.
So, this coming January 2015, the continuation of the en banc sessions could clarify the funding to its proper form, substance and essence.
Also, President Aquino has also signed the P22-billion supplemental budget for 2014, which critics claimed to have also been infested with funds from the DAP and the PDAF. The President said the supplemental budget will cover projects that had no more funding due to adverse SC rulings against the PDAF. “When we fell in line with the call of the people to remove the PDAF from our budget, we have removed the whole that abuses the system. Together with it, there are projects delayed, services cut, and liabilities unpaid,” Aquino said.
It was not the initiative of President Aquino that removed the PDAF, however, since it took an SC decision that branded it unconstitutional that led to the removal of the legislative pork barrel. In fact he contested the SC decision saying that PDAF is not itself bad but only the abuse of its use. “Of course, we cannot let our countrymen suffer that we have already given attention to,” he added.
The supplemental budget also contained P10 billion for rehabilitation efforts in areas devastated last year by typhoon Yolanda. Other projects that need immediate funding were being allocated to complete its course.
Despite the challenges facing the administration in its last years in power, the Palace official was optimistic that President Aquino will deliver in 2015 on the promises he made during the campaign and his last four years in office.
Let’s wait and see on how Pnoy Administration will handle the Philippines for the year 2015 onwards.
