The Office of the Ombudsman under Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales has ordered the investigation for technical malversation of Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad over the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).
The controversial DAP is said to be the pork barrel of President Benigno Aquino III. According to the statement of the Office of the Ombudsman, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales approved the preliminary investigation and administrative adjudication of Sec. Abad.
Budget Secretary Abad is said to the brains behind the controversial DAP, a savings-impounding mechanism portions of which were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
Aside from Sec. Abad, the Ombudsman also ordered the investigation of Budget Undersecretary Mario Relampagos, who faces multiple charges of graft over the pork barrel scam for allegedly speeding up the release of pork barrel to lawmakers accused for plunder.
Although the two top officials of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) were under investigation some political analysts noticed that the Ombudsman did not order for an investigation on President Aquino. The President appointed Conchita Carpio Morales, a retired Supreme Court Justice, as Ombudsman in 2012.
