By SAMMY JULIAN
Manila News Bureau Chief
MANILA — Budget Secretary Florencio Abad does not regret being the main architect of the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).
But if there is anything he thinks he should offer an apology for is the “stress and inconvenience” that the fiscal stimulus measure has caused the Aquino administration.
For this, Abad offered his resignation last week, but the President did not accept it.
“How can we regret it,” he said in a television interview. “Without raising new taxes except for the sin tax reform, without borrowing even more … we have managed to increase unprecedentedly our investments in social protection, in basic education, in infrastructure, in public health, in social housing, you name it. As a result of that, the economy has grown.”
Abad, however, admitted that he apologized to President Benigno Aquino III and the other Cabinet members when he offered his resignation.
“I asked for understanding and an apology from the President and my colleagues in the Cabinet for all the stress and inconvenience that has been brought upon not just in the DBM (Department of Budget and Management) but in the other agencies that are implementing the DAP,” he said.
Aquino earlier explained that he did not accept Abad’s resignation because doing so would imply his wrongdoing in implementing the DAP.
“As an honorable act, keeping in mind that there was no wrongdoing that happened here, I must take responsibility for all fallout,” Abad said.
He pointed out that the Supreme Court did not declare the entire DAP unconstitutional; the high court even conceded that it is a good program.
Abad said they are “taking a risk” to file a motion for reconsideration on the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision against DAP.
“As the public officer principally tasked by the Constitution to faithfully execute the law, then he has to appeal to the courts to understand (our actions) because we are the Executive,” said Abad. “We know the day-to-day details of running the government. We interpret the laws and they may not be aware of the nook and crannies of public administration. That is why we are taking this risk to appeal to the Supreme Court.”
Nevertheless, he assured that they would respect the Supreme Court’s ruling. “We recognize that, at the end of the day, Supreme Court is supreme in interpreting the law,” he said.
Abad clarified that the President was not threatening the high court when he opposed its ruling on DAP but was only expressing an “impassioned” appeal to the court to reconsider its decision./PN
