By MARK MERUEÑAS
GMA News
GMA News
Enrile and De Lima (File Photo)
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Thursday insisted Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile was a conspirator in the P10 billion “pork barrel” fund mess, as are 37 others named in criminal complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman.
De Lima issued the statement in reaction to a newspaper report claiming a memorandum prepared by Assistant Ombudsman Joselito Fangon identified Enrile as the “mastermind” of the scam.
“As far as the National Bureau of Investigation is concerned, all those charged are conspirators. Each participated in a grand conspiracy to steal public funds, in varying roles and degrees of culpability,” de Lima told reporters.
“The act of one is the act of all,” she added.
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales has denied the existence of the supposed memorandum.
“I’m surprised about that eight-page memo. There’s no such thing as an eight-page memo… I have several memos. I don’t recall (any) eight-page memo,” she said Thursday.
Enrile has demanded an apology for the “false report” and has asked the Office of the Ombudsman to “investigate and discipline” those involved in leaking the supposed memorandum.
Napoles must admit involvement first
De Lima, also on Thursday, reacted to Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago’s statement that Enrile’s co-accused, businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, can now turn state witness after the Ombudsman’s supposed memo declaring the former Senate president a “mastermind.”
Under the Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Act, a person may apply to be state witness under certain qualifications, one of them being that he or she “does not appear to be the most guilty.”
But de Lima said “Napoles should first admit her participation in the criminal conspiracy before we can even consider her as state witness.”
“She has not done so. We all saw her stance during the Senate blue ribbon committtee hearing,” de Lima said.
Napoles appeared before the Senate earlier this month but senators failed to elicit explosive testimony from her after she repeatedly dodged questions and invoked her right against self-incrimination.
De Lima had earlier said she thinks Napoles was the “most guilty” in the fund mess.
The NBI filed complaints of plunder, bribery, graft and corruption with the Office of the Ombudsman last September 16. Apart from Enrile, Senators Bong Revilla Jr and Jinggoy Estrada were also named respondents in the complaints.
Complaints were also filed against several former district representatives, other government officials, Napoles, and supposed officials of non-governmental organizations linked to her.
The complaints were filed in connection with the supposed diversion of money from the Priority Development Assistance Fund to bogus projects said to have been implemented by NGOs linked to Napoles.
Government officials allegedly ended up splitting the money withNapoles. —JDS, GMA News
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