spot_img
28.1 C
Philippines
Friday, March 29, 2024

SC takes up Palace’s DAP petition

- Advertisement -

The Supreme Court will resolve the appeal of Malacanang seeking to reverse its decision declaring as unconstitutional substantial parts of the controversial Disbursement ­Acceleration Program (DAP) when it resumes its en banc session tomorrow ­(Tuesday).

A SC insider said over the weekend that magistrates will deliberate on the appeal of the Palace on their unanimous decision in July last year outlawing some acts under the DAP.

The  DAP case was included in the Court’s agenda after the deliberation was reset twice in November and December last year, the source said.

Included in the agenda is the motion for reconsideration filed by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG).

However, the source expressed doubts that the Court will reconsider its decision given the unanimity by which the magistrates ruled on the case.

- Advertisement -

“Based on previous cases – and it has also been somehow accepted – the SC does not reverse a unanimous decision,” the SC insider said.

In its 52-page motion for reconsideration, the Palace asserted that DAP – the economic stimulus program designed to accelerate public spending – did not violate the constitution, adding that DAP was not done in bad faith.

In justifying good faith behind DAP, the OSG pleaded that the SC should consider institutional competence and value of bureaucratic practices in understanding the constitutional role of the executive in managing the economy, the authority of Congress to define savings, the shared role of the political departments in preparing the budget and the limited role of the SC on these matters.

The OSG stressed that the Court erred in applying the doctrine of operative fact, which recognizes the validity of the assailed law or action prior to the determination of its unconstitutionality as an operative fact that produced consequences that cannot always be erased, ignored or disregarded.

The government has dismissed the notion that the Budget department engaged in a policy of accumulating savings so that President Aquino may have funds for augmentation.

The OSG also reiterated its stand that withdrawn obligated allotments and unreleased appropriations under the DAP are savings and that use of the un-programmed funds under the DAP was not violative of the General Appropriations Acts.

The Palace turned the table on the SC by citing the supposed cross-border transfer of funds committed by the high court in 2012.

It cited a July 17, 2012 resolution of the SC, then under Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio as acting Chief Justice, allowing the allocation from existing savings of the Court worth P2.38 billion for the construction of Manila City Hall of Justice, Cebu Court of appeals and Cagayan de Oro Court of Appeals.

It noted that the high court earmarked its existing savings of P1.865 billion to augment the P100 million budget for the Manila Hall of Justice, which is an item in the 2012 budget of the Department of Justice-Office of the Secretary, which is within the executive department.

- Advertisement -

LATEST NEWS

Popular Articles