Filing of second batch of PDAF cases delayed anew

MANILA, Philippines - The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has deferred for the third time the filing of the second plunder charges against another group of respondents tagged in the multibillion-peso pork barrel scam.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the NBI was almost ready to file the charges with the Office of the Ombudsman, but that the timing was not right.

De Lima said it would be best to first wait for the action of the Ombudsman on the first charges filed last September by the bureau.

“If we decide to file the case tomorrow, we can do that. But I told them to wait first since the Ombudsman has announced that a development in the first case could be expected in the next few days,” she said.

The justice secretary said the anti-graft office that conducted the preliminary investigation on the first plunder charges has vowed to resolve the case before yearend.

“The second batch should be filed when the Ombudsman is done with the first and ready to issue notices for the filing of counter-affidavits,” she said.

Earlier this month, the NBI was supposed to file additional cases against more personalities tagged by the whistle-blowers in the pork scam.

But after reviewing the complaint, De Lima decided to move the filing of second charges to the second week of this month.

She said she ordered the probe team to purge the list of respondents as the evidence against some of them was not sufficient.

De Lima said the filing of the second case was first deferred last month as their attention was distracted by the Senate inquiry.

She hinted that the second case included at least 10 congressmen as respondents, although she said she did not check on their political affiliation as it is irrelevant.

Named respondents in the first plunder charges were senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr.; alleged scam brains Janet Lim-Napoles and 34 others.

The NBI also filed separate charges against Napoles and several former government officials in connection with the Malampaya fund anomaly.