AMLC working with NBI on ‘pork’ suspects’ assets

MANILA, Philippines - Now that the assets of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles are frozen, is the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) working on seizing the assets of other personalities involved in the scam?

When asked if the AMLC is reviewing the assets of other individuals involved in the scam and moving to freeze their money, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima refused to comment on the work of the council.

But a source told reporters that the AMLC has been coordinating with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Department of Justice to secure documents.

“Suffice it to tell you that AMLC has been working on this. They just first attended to those who have clearly been established because they already have their affidavits, such as that of the whistle-blowers,” De Lima said.

“As to whether AMLC is going to apply for the freezing of deposits of other players, of the other personalities being implicated, it is for the AMLC really to do it. In these matters, it is not wise or advisable to announce them in advance,” she added.

It is possible that premature announcements might cause other targets of the AMLC to hide their assets even before the court could issue an Asset Preservation Order (APO) against them.

De Lima also said more legislators might be implicated in the third batch of cases that the NBI is working on.

“This will be a new batch and the only thing common here are the names of Mrs. Napoles and the implementing agencies. But the lawmakers, every batch there ought to be new names,” she added.

De Lima also said she supports the AMLC’s efforts to run after other individuals who benefited from the multibillion-peso pork barrel scam.

“For justice to really be able to deliver complete justice on the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam and other related scams, we should not also stop at the prosecution aspect because in the Inter-Agency Anti-Graft Coordinating Council (IAAGCC), there are five areas of coordination namely fact-finding, preliminary investigation, prosecution, trial and recovery of assets,” she explained.

“These are public funds. In the end, these should be recovered. That is really part of the integral process of extracting justice in anti-corruption cases such as plunder,” she added.

De Lima also said she does not see any problem that even whistle-blowers in the pork barrel scam, like Benhur Luy, were included in the APO issued by Manila City Regional Trial Court Judge Mariano de la Cruz.

“It is okay if these assets would be frozen because these are really depositories of those funds being channeled through these Napoles NGOs (non-government organizations),” she explained.

The freeze order also covers Napoles’ husband Jaime and children Jo Christine, James Christopher, Jeane Catherine and John Christian.

Her relatives Ana Marie Lim, Reynald Lim and Jose Emanuel Lim; her assistant Evelyn Ditchon de Leon; Benhur’s mother Gertrudes and employee Simonette Briones are likewise covered by the order.

Napoles operation not set

Meanwhile, the surgery to remove the uterine myoma from Napoles has yet to be scheduled as her personal doctors and physicians at the Ospital ng Makati (OsMak), where she is confined, are still monitoring her high blood sugar level.

At a press briefing yesterday, OsMak medical director Perry Peralta said Napoles’ seven personal physicians from St. Luke’s Medical Center-Global have requested to review the results of the earlier examinations done on her. Should her condition stabilize, the operation could possibly push through tomorrow.

Earlier, Peralta said the OsMak would have its counterpart team of doctors to help manage the health condition of Napoles alongside her team of personal physicians.

But although OsMak has agreed to have the personal doctors of Napoles take part in her treatment at the hospital, they would do so subject to the provisions of the orders of the Makati court and the policies of the hospital. — Evelyn Macairan, Mike Frialde