Garapal: Abad’s DAP loot for Batanes

Apologies to my readers who don’t like the use of street lingo, but that was the Filipino word that immediately entered my mind when I read yesterday that Budget Secretary Florencio Abad’s home province of Batanes, his fiefdom, got P133 million from the unconstitutional Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

That made Batanes the third biggest recipient of DAP funds among political districts, after Mandaluyong City, which got P203 million, and Cavite’s first district, P186 million. Both districts have congressmen who are Liberal Party stalwarts. That’s according to the report published yesterday in this newspaper by the respected Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, based on budget department documents.