Former Philippine President Benigno Aquino has been indicted in a $1.35 billion criminal case over his failure to get congressional approval to use state funds to jump-start major government projects, authorities said Wednesday.
The money became a source of controversy during Aquino's term from 2010-2016, with critics claiming he used it to barter for favours from legislators. He has always denied any wrongdoing.
The charge, filed last week by a special anti-corruption prosecutor but only made public Wednesday, alleges that Aquino violated the constitution's separation of powers.
In the indictment, prosecutor Conchita Morales alleged Aquino wrote a series of instructions to his budget minister to funnel 72 billion pesos ($1.35 billion) into a special initiative in June 2012.
"Without the approval of the said memoranda by respondent Aquino, (the budget ministry's fund release order) would not have been issued," Morales said in a statement.
Aquino branded the initiative, the "Disbursement Allocation Programme", an attempt to speed up public spending in the notoriously bureaucratic nation in order to boost economic growth.
The scheme redirected money left unspent in agencies' budgets to other parts of the government that needed funding for projects.
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