Manila: A second plunder case was filed against Budget Secretary Florencio Abad for transferring executive funds to the tune of P50 million (Dh4.17 million) each to 19 senators who impeached a former Supreme Court chief justice in 2012.
Former Philippine Constitutional Association (Philconsa) president Bonifacio Alentajan filed a complaint before the Ombudsman’s office, saying the budget secretary committed plunder and usurpation of legislative power when he distributed P50 million each to 19 senators in late 2012, several months after former Chief Justice Renato Coronal was impeached in mid-2012 for mis-declaration in his statement of assets, liabilities, and networth.
Abad “transferred funds duly appropriated to one government agency to another without legislative authority and feloniously awarded and released fifty million pesos each to the senators who voted for the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona,” said Alentajan in his complaint, adding the total amount transferred by Abad reached “almost one billion pesos”.
Abad “misappropriated, converted, and misused public funds without proper authority from Congress,” concluded Alentajan.
He also asked for Abad’s preventive suspension “so he will not have access to public documents involved in this case,” said Alentajan.
Alentajan based his complaint on the privilege speech of Senator Jinggoy Estrada on September 25, 2013, who admitted he was one of 19 senators who impeached Corona and later received P50 million as “incentives” from Abad.
At the time, Estrada said, “Let the people make their own conclusion if this is right or wrong. I can add to this story: after the conviction of the former chief justice, those who voted to convict (him) were allotted an additional P50 million (on top of their respective allotment of development funds from Congress).”
Congressmen who also impeached Corona ahead of the Senate allegedly received similar “incentives” from the executive level in 2012.
It was revealed later funds from Abad came from the Disbursement Accelerated Programme (DAP) of President Benigno Aquino, who created the item, following Abad’s suggestion, in 2011.
Money from savings
It was created to hold funds saved or not spent by line agencies.
At the same time, the Supreme Court ruled in July 2014, that the creation of the DAP and the transfer of funds from the executive to other branches of government such as the legislative level (as it happened in 2012), was unconstitutional.
A sectoral party called Youth at the House of Representatives had filed the same complaint against Abad at the Ombudsman’s office last July 2014.
The complaint has remained pending at the Ombudsman’s investigation office.
