Abad may not successfully evade liability by invoking good faith.

Former Budget secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad

The Court of Appeals (CA) upheld yesterday the administrative sanctions against former Budget secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad, but the crux of the decision was that officials can’t use the claim of good faith as an excuse against liability in the conduct of their duties.

“Abad may not successfully evade liability by invoking good faith,” according to the CA decision.

“While Abad’s desire to fast-track public spending and push economic growth is laudable and the implementation of the DAP (Disbursement Acceleration Program) in fact undeniably yielded positive results that enhance economic welfare of the country his defenses cannot override the clear mandate of the law,” it explained.

The court said as a responsible public officer, the former official ought to have been well aware that he has no authority to overrule the requirements of established rules and the fundamental law of the land.

The CA ruling may open up a possible review of the case to include criminal liabilities.

The Supreme Court had declared the DAP unconstitutional in 2014, but former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales had cleared former President Benigno Aquino III, junked the technical malversation charges against Abad and instead filed usurpation of legislative powers against the latter.

The CA ruling acting on the Ombudsman’s complaint will result in light sanctions on Abad who will no longer have to serve a suspension, since he is no longer in government.

He will only have to pay a fine equivalent to his three-months’ salary.

The CA decision found Abad administratively liable for simple misconduct. An estimated P133 billion was diverted from the budget to DAP, which was a supposed stimulus fund, but was used as slush money primarily in the impeachment of the late Chief Justice Renato Corona.

The four-page resolution penned by Associate Justice Zenaida Galapate-Laguilles, the CA’s former Special Fourteenth Division, stated the failure of Abad to raise new arguments that would warrant the reversal of its 27 February 2019 decision, which upheld the findings of the Ombudsman that the former Budget secretary should be held accountable for simple misconduct.

The CA said, after reviewing the grounds relied on by the petitioner, the Court found no compelling reason to amend the decision as the issues raised had already been resolved and covered extensively in the assailed resolution.

Abad was found to have intruded on the powers of Congress by effectively modifying the provisions on savings in the General Appropriations Act of 2012 when he issued National Budget Circular 541, which consolidates savings or unutilized balances and withdraws unobligated balances of agencies with low levels of obligations.

The circular provided the principal bases for the withdrawal of unobligated allotments, which were declared as savings and used to fund programs, activities and projects under the DAP.