Will ‘pork’ scam raps ever get anywhere?
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People’s reactions were mixed about Monday’s filing of charges against lawmakers in Janet Lim Napoles’ pork barrel scam. Judging from feedback to news reports, many were satisfied. The system seemed to be working, with mighty officials made to account for plunder or malversation of billions of pesos. “The government listened†was the gist of texts to broadcast and e-mail to print media. The cry, in rallies and on Internet, could not be ignored: justice for the impunity with which the legislators pocketed people’s money.
There was skepticism too. Questions centered on why only three sitting senators and five ex-congressmen were impleaded before the Ombudsman. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima kept clarifying to the press that “this is only the initial filing, more will be charged.†But the man in the street kept pressing too, “When and against whom?â€
People also posed two most common questions. Will the “untouchable†lawmakers ever be jailed with de Lima’s vaunted “truckload†of documentary evidence? Is there a witch-hunt against political oppositionists?
Part of the answers lie in the names of the respondents. Charged with plunder: immediate past Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, ex-President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, 2010 senatorial race top ranker Bong Revilla, and former representatives Rizalina Seachon-Lanete (Masbate) and Edgar Valdez (party-list). Malversation: Rodolfo Plaza (Agusan del Sur), Samuel Dangwa (Benguet), and Constantino Jaraula (Cagayan de Oro).
Plunder, a non-bailable heinous offense, carries a life term. If probable cause is found to indict the first five before the Sandiganbayan, they shall be jailed while undergoing trial. But the anti-court can grant bail if it deems the initial evidence weak. This is Estrada’s second bout with plunder. The first time, 2001, in which his co-accused father, ousted President Joseph Estrada, was convicted, he had won bail and eventual acquittal. Malversation being bailable, the last three can be jailed only on final conviction. Given the country’s slow justice, that would take years in the trial, appellate, and Supreme Courts.
Can the incumbent lawmakers be suspended from office? Yes, if the Sandiganbayan so orders, on motion of the Ombudsman. That would include Seachon-Lanete, now governor of Masbate. Expect lawyer Enrile, vaunted to never have lost a case, to exert all means to avoid suspension, much more jail.
That the opposition is being singled out is negated by the affiliations of the accused. Enrile and Estrada presently are Minority Leader and assistant. But Revilla is with the pro-Aquino administration majority, as he was during the Arroyo tenure when he also chaired the ruling party. The ex-congressmen’s political leanings are infirm; district and local officials usually cling to, because dependent on, Malacañang largesse.
Evidence, not politics, should matter. Whether with the opposition or not, the accused must answer the charges squarely, not ascribe ill will to the chargers. Former Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo used to tell his investigators to ignore the motive of whistleblowers — petty vendetta or noble patriotism — since crucial only is trueness of the raps.
But in this country where politics overrules justice, partisanship can mar the prosecution of the “pork†scam. Certain issues are hard to overlook. Like, while the special state audit of the 2007-2009 “pork†misuse covered eight senators and 182 congressmen — many aligned with the Aquino administration — it was silent on one crucial item. That is, the P600-million pork barrels each of then-senators Noynoy Aquino and Mar Roxas during the three years under audit.
Crying bias, the opposition is capitalizing on sworn statements of Commission on Audit chairwoman Grace Pulido-Tan before the ongoing Senate inquiry. The audit was initiated in early 2010, by Pulido-Tan’s Arroyo-appointed predecessor. Most of the lawmakers covered were with Gloria Arroyo, who then shifted to the Aquino coalition starting July 2010. Pulido-Tan took over the audit only when appointed in mid-2011. She said most of the documents came from the Dept. of Budget and Management. Meaning, for a while from Arroyo secretary Rolando Andaya Jr., but for the most part from Aquino’s Florencio Abad. Abad is considered as Aquino and Roxas’ Liberal Party ideologue. Pulido-Tan’s report scored the lawmakers for two things: handing billions of pesos in “pork†to bogus projects and/or NGOs, and exceeding their annual “pork†of P200 million per senator and P70 million per congressman. Because an Arroyo oppositionist, Abad’s wife Henedina, congresswoman of Batanes in 2007-2009, hardly had any “pork†allocation. But she got P92.5 million in 2012, more than the normal P70 million. In the Abads’ defense, presidential spokesmen said the P22.5-million excess was because Henedina’s 2011 “pork†was short of that amount in 2011. The 2012 “pork†is not (yet) under audit. But the excuse of “carry over†only pointed up all the more the vile arbitrariness of the lump-sum “pork.â€
Of note too is the admission of Agriculture Sec. Proceso Alcala that allowed his agency to be a conduit for Napoles’ “pork†racket. During a recent House of Reps hearing of his budget for 2014, he said he had rejected pork overtures from Congress in 2010-2011. But he relented to six congressmen’s alleged pressures to pass P83.2 million in “pork†money through his agency onto launderer Napoles. He identified the six: Isidro Ungab (Davao City), Reynaldo Umali (Mindoro Oriental), Scott Davies Lanete (Masbate), Antonio Lagdameo (Davao del Norte), Neil Benedicto Montejo, and Arnulfo Fuentebella (Camarines Sur).
All were/are aligned with Aquino; Fuentebella was Deputy Speaker during the Arroyo and Aquino tenures till 2012. Alcala justified his collusion with Napoles’ front NGO after a cursory inquiry with the SEC that it is legitimately registered. Political foes revealed that Fuentebella’s recipient NGO allegedly was headquartered in the town where his son is mayor, yet has no business permit.
Fuentebella countered that it’s Alcala’s agency that misused in 2012 part of his “pork†for 2009. He found out that the agriculture office disbursed to Napoles P750,000 of P5 million without his consent last year, when he was about to bow out of Congress. He now demands that the P750,000 be reimbursed, and the entire P5 million revert to the National Treasury.
From the exchange of charges between administration and opposition lawmakers, it’s clear that the “pork†lard has smeared both sides.
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