By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
InterAksyon.com
InterAksyon.com
Jessica Lucila ‘Gigi’ Reyes, former chief of staff of Sen Juan Ponce Enrile and one of the six respondents to the malversation and plunder charges filed over the P10-billion pork barrel scam who have left the country
MANILA, Philippines — Justice Secretary Leila de Lima admitted that the government has practically “no recourse” against the six respondents to the malversation and plunder charges filed over the P10-billion pork barrel scam who have left the country.
The charges were filed this week before the Office of the Ombudsman against 38 respondents, who include businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, who allegedly engineered the scam, and Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jose “Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr.
The government said the respondents are only the first batch against whom similar charges are being readied for their alleged involvement in the scam, which involved lawmakers handing over huge sums from their Priority Development Assistance Fund to bogus nongovernmental organizations supposedly set up by Napoles in exchange for reported kickbacks of as much as 50 percent of the non-existent projects’ costs.
However, it is likely to take some time for the Ombudsman to review the complaints and elevate these to the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court, in the course of which some of the respondents could be cleared.
But even before the complaints were filed, six of those linked to the scam — former Agusan Representative Rodolfo Plaza; Enrile’s former chief of staff Jessica Lucila Reyes; Ruby Tuason, a representative of Enrile and Estrada; former Training and Research Center director general Antonio Ortiz; former TRC deputy director general Dennis Cunanan; and Nemesio Pablo Jr., head of the Agri and Economic Programs for Farmers Foundation Inc. — left the country, as confirmed by the Bureau of Immigration.
With charges yet to be filed in court, De Lima admitted, “Right now, there’s no recourse. The most that we can do is coordinate with our counterparts in the country or countries that they may be found.”
She said the National Bureau of Investigation could task its Interpol Division to coordinate with counterpart agencies in the countries where the six reportedly went.
“But we could not help think of course, that on the psychological side of things, if they are leaving the country, then isn’t that an indication that they could have done something wrong?” De Lima asked.
“Although strictly, what I know is that they should be fugitive from justice, but nothing prevents us from tapping this cooperation between and among agencies,” she added.
De Lima also said if the six do not return to the country should the cases against them go to trial, the government can take action once convictions are handed down.
“If there is a conviction, there are certain modes like extradition. (But) it depends if we have a(n extradition) treaty with the country where they are,” she said.
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