SC tackles case vs Sandigan justice with ties to Napoles

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) has initiated an administrative case against Sandiganbayan Senior Justice Gregory Ong on allegations linking him to businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged brains in the multibillion-peso pork barrel fund scam.

SC spokesman Theodore Te said the high court magistrates approved in session yesterday the docketing of an administrative case against Ong as a result of the inquiry it initiated in October last year on sworn statements of pork barrel scam whistle-blowers Benhur Luy and Marina Sula during the hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee on the controversy.

“The Court will assign a retired SC justice to be its investigator,” Te announced in an email to reporters.

The SC had asked Ong to explain why he was tagged by Sula and Luy as the supposed contact of Napoles.

“Justice Ong had submitted his explanation to the court. Today’s action ends the motu proprio (on its own initiative) inquiry and commences the administrative case against Justice Ong,” Te explained.

The whistle-blowers had identified Ong as one of the personalities who visited Napoles’ office at the Discovery Suites in Ortigas and joined her parties.

Whistle-blowers also identified the four lawyers as among the associates of Napoles – Mark Oliveros, Editha Talaboc, Raymond Tansip and Joshua Lapuz.

The lawyers allegedly notarized documents of Napoles’ JLN Corp. for its projects funded by the Malampaya fund, according to the witnesses.

They even reportedly left a dry seal in Napoles’ office, as well as specimen signatures, notary books and stamp pads for use by JLN employees.

The four lawyers were also covered by the SC probe.

In August, an online news website published a photo of Ong partying with Napoles and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada.

Ong was a member of the Sandiganbayan’s fourth division that had cleared Napoles in the Kevlar helmet case involving ghost purchase of 500 Kevlar helmets using government funds in 1998.

Ong has voluntarily submitted himself to investigation of the high court in a letter to Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno last Sept. 26.

Ong claimed the photo could not have been taken in 2010 or earlier. He said he and Estrada are friends since 1994.