AS CONGRESS AND SENATE REJECT PORK PROBE, CHIZ ASKS 'WHY DID WE IMPEACH CJ CORONA?'

By Manny Pinol
www.mannypinol.com

Senators and Congressmen who in the past tried to outdo each other in conducting probes and investigations into almost all kind of controversies which hogged the front pages of the national dailies have now made up their minds: There will be no investigation into the misuse of their pork barrel.

This prompted the maverick Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero to publicly express his great disappointment and frustration accusing the Senate of squandering a golden opportunity to grab the moral ascendancy in pushing President Aquino's fight against corruption.

Indeed, this was the same Senate and House which initiated and concluded the impeachment trial of former Chief Justice Renato Corona, the same institutions which conducted a probe into the "pabaon" system in the armed forces which led to the suicide of former AFP Chief of Staff Angelo Reyes, and the same bodies which dipped their fingers into such inane issues as sex scandals.

Today, the usually trigger-happy Senate and Congress both said it would not be a good idea to investigate its own members, with House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. downplaying corruption among Congressmen.

Here is a report written by newsman Gil C. Cabacungan of the Philippine Daily Inquirer who has waged an almost one-man crusade against the misuse of the pork barrel:

"Despite a mounting clamor for a congressional probe, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. doesn’t want the House of Representatives to touch with a 10-foot pole the alleged misuse of P10 billion in pork barrel of five senators and 23 House members over the past 10 years.

“No. Gugulo lang (It will just get messy). (Justice) Secretary (Leila) de Lima assured me that they are on top of it and expediting it,” Belmonte said, referring to the National Bureau of Investigation’s probe of allegations by six whistle-blowers that Janet Lim-Napoles formed a network of fake nongovernment organizations (NGOs) to loot taxpayers’ money in conspiracy with lawmakers, their key staff members and certain government personnel.

"In affidavits submitted to the NBI, the whistle-blowers, led by Benhur Luy, a relative and former employee of Napoles, claimed that up to 60 percent of the funds funneled into bogus NGOs and nonexistent projects represented kickbacks of lawmakers. The rest went to Napoles and her group.

"Belmonte said that after the justice department’s investigation, the House “will evaluate the findings and decide if more is needed.” The NBI is under the Department of Justice (DOJ).

"Belmonte’s stand runs counter to calls made by House Minority Leader Ronnie Zamora for the chamber to look into the scam involving the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), the official name of the pork barrel.

“The magnitude and the destructive effects of the PDAF scam must not be swept into oblivion, as the issue is destroying the trust that members of the Philippine Congress should enjoy from the people they represent,” the minority bloc said in House Resolution No. 160.

Senate President Franklin Drilon took a position similar to Belmonte’s last week as he noted that agencies like the NBI were in a better position to handle the case than a self-examination in which, based on the view of the majority of senators, the results would not be trusted by the public.

"Sen. Francis Escudero filed a resolution calling for a Senate probe of the scam, but his colleagues shot it down.

"Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano said a probe would be “problematic” and “senators and congressmen [might] fight among themselves.”

"Like a voice in the wilderness, some lawmakers are stepping up the pressure on their colleagues to give in to calls for a congressional inquiry.

“I am frustrated and share the people’s disgust in the ‘noninvestigation’ of the PDAF scandal. I hold the belief that the Senate passed upon a golden opportunity to show and prove to our people that the ‘upper chamber’ has the moral ascendancy to bring to its logical conclusion P-Noy’s fight against corruption,” Escudero said.

"He said that after impeaching and convicting Corona on a mere “nondeclaration” of assets in his SALNs (statements of assets, liabilities and net worth), “I cannot help feeling that there is a seeming double standard in how we are pursuing our common fight against graft and grafters in the government.”

“I continue to hold on to P-Noy’s statement during his Sona (State of the Nation Address) that the fight will go on whoever is hit and wherever and against whom the axe may fall,” Escudero said in a text message.

"He said his colleagues’ argument that the Senate should not conduct a parallel probe while another agency was already looking into the matter had “no basis” because it conducted a probe of the Cagayan de Oro bomb blast recently even though the NBI and the Department of the Interior and Local Government were still probing the incident.

“Is this the same institution that impeached Corona? Why is it that the crusading zeal against graft and corruption seems to have vanished into thin air when the House is now challenged to investigate its own?" Escudero asked."

It is relieving to hear Senator Escudero express the frustration and utter disappointment that the ordinary Filipinos now feel.

But at the same time, realizing how deeply embedded corruption is in the Philippine governmental institutions gives us a numbing and nauseating feeling.

When the small and rural politicians who failed to liquidate their travel expense are charged before the Ombudsman and jailed, when a lowly court clerk is dismissed from service because of an incomplete information in her SALN and when a decorated military officer is shamed in the Senate to the point of pushing him to commit suicide, why are the Senators and Congressmen now saying that there should be no investigation because it will hurt the institutions?

The success of the President's campaign against corruption hangs int he balance in the Pork Barrel scandal.

If nothing comes out of this, whatever gains he has made will all be lost.