By Pat C. Santos
The Daily Tribune
The Daily Tribune
The allies of President Aquino in the Senate appear to have been cloaked with immunity from allegations of misuse of their pork barrel funds after the counsel for whistle-blowers in the P10-billion Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam revealed yesterday that the second set of complaints being readied for submission to the Office of the Ombudsman does not involve names of senators.
Lawyer Levito “Levy” Baligod, however, revealed that “the charges against the lawmakers involved would be malversation and not plunder because the government funds involved did not reach the threshold of plunder of P50 million.”
Speaking before the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) Kapihan sa Manila Hotel media forum, Baligod added that the second set of lawmakers will also be charged for the misuse of the PDAF.
In the first batch of the pork barrel scam complaints in which three opposition Senators, Juan Ponce Enrile, Jingoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr., were recommended charged with plunder, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima denied that the opponents of President Aquino were targeted in the filing of complaints and that other legislators which many presumed to now include allies of Aquino mentioned in the Commission on Audit (CoA) special report on the PDAF would be included.
Baligod said that no less than 10 members of the House of Representatives will be recommended for prosecution for malversation of their PDAF, or pork barrel, through non-government organizations (NGOs) controlled by alleged scam brains Janet Lim-Napoles.
“Like the first set of PDAF cases, the second set would have the NBI and DoJ use as evidence the testimonies and documentary evidence submitted by the whistle-blowers who are former employees of Napoles, led by principal witness Benhur Luy,” Baligod explained.
The private counsel for Luy and five other whistle-blowers in the P10-billion pork barrel scam likewise said there will be no stopping the people’s battle against corruption in the highest echelons of power.
“We are in the same boat, and everybody is concerned about plugging whatever hole there is in that boat. To redress our grievances, it’s enough to have the truth by our side, enough love of country and the courage to (see it through),” Baligod said.
In support, former senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson stressed that there should not be any let up in the fight against corruption involving the PDAF and it should continue despite what appeared to be an uphill battle lest it “goes back to the slopes.”
In support, former senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson stressed that there should not be any let up in the fight against corruption involving the PDAF and it should continue despite what appeared to be an uphill battle lest it “goes back to the slopes.”
“It should not end up with the PDAF. There is also corruption in the LGUs (local government units) from the barangay to the cities and municipalities which involves the development funds allocated to them,” Lacson said.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, however, refused to confirm the names published in a newspaper on who are allegedly included in the second batch of respondents in the criminal complaint for the misuse of the PDAF.
De Lima said she has a strict instruction to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) not to disclose yet the names of those whoever will be charged until such time that the complaint has been actually filed before the Office of the Ombudsman.
The filing of the charges for the second batch of the accused in the scam has been delayed several times from its initial target of a Nov. 1 filing with Justice Secretary Leila De Lima not being able to give any explanation for the postponement.
The filing of the charges for the second batch of the accused in the scam has been delayed several times from its initial target of a Nov. 1 filing with Justice Secretary Leila De Lima not being able to give any explanation for the postponement.
De Lima then set a target for filing a week after Nov. 1.
De Lima said then she was still coordinating with the NBI on the filing of the case while assuring that the pieces of evidence in the possession of the NBI are sufficient enough as well as the witnesses against the other respondents for a strong case against those to be recommended for prosecution.
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