ATENEO PARTIES have denied their involvement in the plunder and impeachment charges filed against Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Chief Florencio Abad and President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, respectively, over the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

The DAP is a stimulus program for public spending and economic growth implemented by DBM and introduced by the Aquino administration.

Several parts of the DAP were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on June 30.

In a statement released on July 10, Ateneo student publication Matanglawin clarified that there was a mistake in the inclusion of its name as a signatory of the plunder case filed against Abad on July 8.

“Hindi intensyon ng pamunuan ng publikasyon na paratangan ang Kalihim [Abad] ng pandarambong (It is not the intention of the publication’s leaders to accuse Secretary Abad of plunder),” read the statement.

Included in the list of petitioners with Matanglawin Editor-in-Chief (EIC) Dyan Francisco is social science sophomore Jerome Flores, who is named as the Youth for Accountability and Truth Now! (Youth Act Now!)-Ateneo de Manila University chapter coordinator.

In an interview with The GUIDON, however, Flores said he is not a member of Youth Act Now! nor is he aware if a Youth Act Now!-Ateneo chapter exists.

Youth Act Now! is an alliance of student leaders, campus journalists, youth groups, out of school youth and young professionals. The alliance, along with the Kabataan youth party-list, spearheaded the filing of the said charges against Abad.

On a separate case, the Sanggunian released a statement on July 14 to condemn the misuse of its name, and consequently that of the Ateneo, in relation to an impeachment complaint against Aquino.

The statement refers to a Manila Standard Today article which quotes Kabataan Representative Terry Ridon during his Super Radyo DZBB appearance on July 13.

According to the article, Ridon said he will endorse the Ateneo and various other student councils and leaders belonging to Youth Act Now! in the impeachment charge they will file against Aquino.

The Sanggunian’s statement emphasized that it is not a member of Youth Act Now! and that it is not participating in the alliance’s impeachment complaint.

Misinformed

Both Francisco and Flores said they were not aware that they were signing for a plunder charge.

“[The College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) National Deputy Secretary General Jian Gomez] didn’t say it was a plunder case. He said it was just a petition regarding DAP—a complaint against Abad,” said Francisco in a mix of English and Filipino.

“That’s what [Gomez] told me about it, complaint lang,” said Flores.

Gomez handled Francisco and Flores’ signing of the document.

CEGP, which Matanglawin is a member of, is an organization of student journalists and student publications advocating for press freedom; CEGP is affiliated with Youth Act Now!.

Francisco said Gomez initially contacted her on July 6 but he was not able to present any document.

On July 8, Francisco said that Gomez went to the Ateneo to personally acquire her signature. Gomez arrived at noon with the documents and said that the complaint needed to be filed by 2:00 PM of that day.

“I said, ‘How will [the Matanglawin editorial board (EB)] be able to read that?’” said Francisco.

“The other EB members also read the documents while I also skimmed the others. I did not see any mention of plunder at all,” said Francisco in a mix of English and Filipino.

Francisco said that they had good intentions in signing a document they thought to be a complaint; she said the fault on their part was they were pressured to sign it despite not being able to read the document as a whole.

As for Flores, he said that when Gomez met with him, the pages were already turned to where he needed to sign, and Gomez was in a rush to have the document signed by other parties.

In a statement sent to The GUIDON, CEGP said the intention to file a plunder charge against Abad was stated on the cover letter of the complaint.

“Marahil sa kakulangan ng panahon upang magtalakay pa ng mas malalim, hindi

gaanong naipaliwanag ang layunin ng dokumento (Perhaps because there was a lack of time to have a more in-depth discussion, the purpose of the document was not properly explained),” said CEGP in the statement.

With regard to his alleged title as Youth Act Now!-Ateneo chapter coordinator, Flores said he immediately confronted Gomez when he found out.

According to Flores, “[Gomez] said that [Youth Act Now! was] really planning to put me into the position of the coordinator… He thought I was already aware of it.”

Dropped names

Fourth Year John Gokongwei School of Management Central Board (CB) Representative and former Sanggunian CB Liaison Ga-el Mendoza said that the Sanggunian’s only connection with Youth Act Now! is participating in a meeting also attended by representatives from its affiliate, the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP).

NUSP is an alliance of student leaders and organizations that is geared towards protecting Filipino student rights.

Mendoza said representatives from the NUSP presented about Youth Act Now! in a CB meeting on July 25.

“We made them present what [NUSP and Youth Act Now! is] and how we could help… but we didn’t have any official decision [on partnering with each other] after they presented,” he said.

According to Sanggunian Department of External Affairs Head Owdylyn Lee, the Sanggunian has taken no further action regarding the matter.

“After [releasing] the statement, it cleared out that [Sanggunian is] not a part of [the impeachment complaint],” Lee said.

DAP stands

In separate interviews with The GUIDON, Matanglawin and Flores said that they are working to retract their respective signatures from the plunder charge.

“We are undergoing the legal procedures now… We have created a manifesto and we have spoken with the Ombudsman,” Francisco said.

Flores expressed that he still wishes to file a complaint against Abad, but not to the extent of filing a plunder charge.

With regard to the DAP issue, Francisco said that Matanglawin is standing by their initial statement: “Manaig ang katotohanan na buhat sa mga ebidensya (For the truth to prevail based on the evidences).”

On the other hand, the Sanggunian has not yet released an official stand on the DAP issue as of press time.

As for the Ateneo’s view on the matter, University President Jose Ramon Villarin, SJ believes there is still no cohesive stand.

Villarin said the the Ateneo “is more than a monolith,” and he needs be careful because he is not only speaking for himself. “I have to take care [as well]; one lesson learned from [this issue is that] I need to know whether I speak as Jett Villarin or as Ateneo de Manila.”

Villarin also said that the school administration stands behind the parties involved in the signing of the plunder charge against Abad. “We would run to their rescue if needed… I believe them when they say that they didn’t sign up for [the case].”

Editor’s Note: The GUIDON is a member of the CEGP and was also asked to sign a complaint concerning the DAP issue. The EB then requested to have a full copy of the text to be sent via email for proper perusal and evaluation. Because the CEGP failed to do so, no documents on the DAP were signed by The GUIDON. The CEGP also did not mention that what it intended to be signed by The GUIDON was actually a plunder case against Abad.