President Benigno S. Aquino III followed the law on the implementation of the Disbursement Acceleration Program, Malacañang said on Wednesday.
“As chief executive, President Aquino faithfully followed the Constitution and the laws of the land,” said Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr..
“If we may recall, the Supreme Court upheld the motion for reconsideration filed through the Office of the Solicitor General, particularly on the operative fact doctrine,” Coloma said.
“In that decision, the Supreme Court categorically ruled and upheld the presumption of regularity in the implementation of the DAP,” Coloma said.
The incoming administration of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte will investigate the liabilities of government officials over unconstitutional acts committed under the DAP, according to Vitaliano Aguirre II, whom Duterte would tap for the post of Justice secretary.
“We are going to investigate the DAP. If the evidence warrants, we are going to file cases,” Aguirre said, in a television interview.
“He [Duterte] told me that charges should be filed no matter who gets hurt. There should be no selective justice,” said Aguirre, who was Duterte’s law school classmate and fraternity brother in San Beda College.
Aguirre did not elaborate on who would be covered by the investigation, but the Supreme Court had already set the grounds when it voided the DAP with finality in February last year.
Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and Associate Justice Arturo Brion have pointed to Aquino and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad as “authors” of DAP who could be held liable over the illegal acts.