Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. has dismissed speculations about a brewing war between the Executive Branch and the Judiciary, following President Aquino’s speech criticizing the Supreme Court over its unanimous decision declaring Malacanang’s Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) unconstitutional.

“The people should not listen to doomsayers.  They want to paint the President in a bad light by making it appear that the Executive is warring with the Judiciary,” said Barzaga, who is also the vice president for external affairs of the National Unity Party (NUP).

“The [President’s speech] was not [meant] to attack a co-equal branch of the government but to try to explain to the people, his bosses, the rationale behind the creation of [DAP],” he added.

Barzaga said the President’s message was crystal clear: his government cannot just stand idly and watch the people suffer because of slow public spending.”

“People’s lives are at stake here and for every delay, it is the citizens especially the poorest of the poor, who bear the brunt of an inefficient system of spending," Barzaga said.

The NUP lawmaker noted that even the Supreme Court conceded that the implementation of DAP yielded “undeniably positive results that enhanced the economic welfare of the country.”

He also said that any move to impeach the President would not prosper because Mr. Aquino is backed by the majority of lawmakers who believe the DAP was legal.

“This is just a simple case of a fiscal policy being challenged before the high court. The President’s detractors should stop salivating at the prospect of impeachment,” he said.

“When it comes to grounds for impeachment, it must be a violation of such enormous gravity that brings light to the very heart, very life, very soul of the nation, and personally, I do not think the President committed such ground,” Barzaga said.