Passport showdown

Jinggoy plans US trip amid DFA review 

MANILA, Philippines - A government proposal to cancel the passports of senators implicated in the pork barrel scam will be put to a test as Sen. Jinggoy Estrada announced he would leave this week for the United States.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is still studying a request from the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the cancellation of the passports, in anticipation of plunder charges to be filed by the Office of the Ombudsman with the Sandiganbayan against Estrada, Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile and Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.

With the case filed in court, warrants of arrest are expected to be issued. A plunder charge normally does not allow bail.

Estrada said he needed to go to the US to seek a second opinion for the medical condition of his wife, Precy, who was recently diagnosed with a lump and cysts in her breast.

He assured the public that he would not evade any charges filed against him in connection with the alleged misuse of the congressional pork barrel.

“I was born here, I was raised here and I will die here,” Estrada said in Filipino, echoing a statement of his father, former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, when plunder charges were filed against them in 2001.

The elder Estrada was detained without bail for six years and was convicted but immediately pardoned by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Jinggoy Estrada, detained for a shorter period, was acquitted.

Yesterday, Senator Estrada expressed hope that the wheels of justice would turn faster to end what he described as a personal ordeal.

“I hope this ends,” he said as he expressed hope for a quick acquittal. “I am confident that I did not misuse the funds of the government.”

Asked if he would file counter-charges against certain individuals implicated in the scam, Estrada said he would consult his lawyers.

“The heads of the implementing agencies should be held accountable,” the senator said.

Certain quarters have slammed the DOJ request, pointing out the absence of arrest warrants for the senators.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, however, said the request could be justified.

She also said the government could invoke the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, which went into effect in December 2005, to run after any individual accused of plunder who will try to evade justice by leaving the Philippines.

A special audit report prepared by the Commission on Audit (COA) covering 2007 to 2009 implicated nearly 200 lawmakers in alleged anomalous disbursements from the pork barrel or Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) using bogus non-government organizations.

Another COA report, covering President Aquino’s administration, implicated more senators who allegedly funneled the pork barrel through local government units.

Local government executives have also been implicated in the pork barrel scam allegedly operated by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.

‘Prosecution by press release’

Justice Secretary Leila De Lima was criticized yesterday for resorting to “prosecution by press release” against perceived critics and political opponents of the administration.

Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, leader of the independent bloc in the House of Representatives, said De Lima has been repeatedly telegraphing her moves in filing cases against these people, including lawmakers accused in the pork barrel scam and the alleged misuse of the Malampaya funds to whip up public opinion against them.

“She (De Lima) should focus on filing the cases rather than coming out with premature statements because she’s distracting the public,” he said. “It’s like prosecution by press release.”

Speaking to reporters, Romualdez said House members are already getting irritated with De Lima with her repeated announcements that more lawmakers would be charged before the Office of the Ombudsman in the coming weeks.

“If the (justice) secretary continues to preempt the court processes, I think an investigation should be in order,” he said.

“It is coming to the point that legislators are being vilified unfairly and the executive branch is becoming too powerful already.”

Romualdez said De Lima’s request to the Department of Foreign Affairs to cancel the passports of Enrile and 30 others was premature.

De Lima was rushing things because it should be the Sandiganbayan that should ask for the cancellation of passports, he added.

Romualdez doubts that Enrile, and Senators Revilla, Estrada and other prominent political figures would leave the country as they would not want to be seen as trying to evade prosecution.

Romualdez said it was also ridiculous for De Lima to seek the cancellation of passport of former president Arroyo, now a Pampanga congresswoman, who is already detained at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City.

“I hate to say this but they’re beating a dead horse,” he said. “She’s not even allowed to go to church, so Masses are held in her suite. Her movements are extremely limited and I’m sure with the advent of technology, they are monitoring her within her hospital suite. But if they want to do that, if they want to show the world that they beat a dead horse, that’s OK.

“If there are anomalies that are alleged, let there be investigations and charges be filed. If the charges were proven, whoever they are should suffer the penalties of the crime committed, but beyond that we should also learn to move forward. We cannot keep on blaming the failures of the President on the past administration.” - Paolo Romero