Where are the senators? – Luy’s lawyer

MANILA, Philippines - The lawyer of pork barrel scam whistle-blower Benhur Luy was surprised that senators were not included in the second batch of charges filed yesterday against lawmakers in the alleged misuse of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of members of Congress.

Levito Baligod said he expected more senators to be charged in the succeeding cases that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) would file with the Office of the Ombudsman.

He said senators might have been spared from the second case in the PDAF scam, but they would not be excluded in future cases.

Baligod said that they expect five more batches of lawmakers to be implicated in the succeeding cases.

He said that in the cases not connected to the PDAF and alleged pork barrel scam brains Janet Lim-Napoles, new whistle-blowers have surfaced and have executed their affidavits.

“What is good about these whistle-blowers who are officials of government, they became courageous to reveal what they know about the anomaly. They became brave because they believe in the straight road of the President (Aquino), and our secretary of justice is incorruptible,” Baligod said, referring to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.

Baligod said the new batch of whistle-blowers reportedly come from the implementing agencies of the PDAF of lawmakers.