SC rules with finality on DAP case

The Supreme Court of the Philippines building in Manila, Philippines. Photo by Mike Gonzalez / Wikimedia Commons.

MANILA — The Supreme Court (SC) en banc on Tuesday ruled with finality on the case of the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

In the ruling, the SC partially granted the motion for reconsideration (MR) filed by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) by deleting a portion of its July 1, 2014 decision declaring as “unconstitutional” the disbursement of the DAP fund which was not included in the General Appropriations Act (GAA).

According to the SC, three portions of DAP are “unconstitutional” because of the violation under Section 25-5 of Article VI of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, as well as the “principle of separation of powers.”

The SC particularly declared as “unconstitutional” the following:

— portion of the DAP fund, the source of which is not from “legitimate savings”;

— “cross-border transfer” of savings or the fund was transferred to another branch of government; and

— use of “unprogrammed fund” without a certification from the National Treasurer stating that the “revenue collection” exceeded the “revenue target.”