DBM undersecretary, 3 aides summoned to pork scam probe
MANILA, Philippines — Budget Undersecretary Mario Relampagos and three of his staff, identified only as Malou, Leah and Lalaine, have been included in the list of lawmakers and individuals under investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam, according to official documents.
Subpoenas were issued to Relampagos and his staff at the start of the preliminary investigation announced last week following the submission of a 246-page report by an Ombudsman special panel on the results of its fact-finding inquiry into the allegations.
A letter complaint by the National Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice in August recommended that Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr., along with the alleged mastermind of the scheme, Janet Lim-Napoles, and 34 others be investigated for plunder and corruption for their purported involvement in the racket.
The senators and Napoles have denied wrongdoing.
Relampagos and his three staff were named by Benhur Luy and Merlina Suñas, former employees of Napoles, in their sworn affidavits as the contact persons of the detained businesswoman.
The NBI earlier named Relampagos as a respondent in a plunder charge for the alleged wholesale theft of P900 million from the Malampaya Fund meant to ease the plight of victims of Tropical Storms “Ondoy” and “Pepeng” in 2009. Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, now a Pampanga representative, and three of her Cabinet secretaries are among those under investigation in this case.
Levito Baligod, lawyer of a group of former Napoles employees led by Luy and Suñas, said the Ombudsman panel might have uncovered sufficient evidence to warrant the inclusion of Relampagos and his three staff among those under investigation in the alleged P10-billion scam involving the channeling of the congressional Priority Development Assistance Fund into ghost projects and dummy nongovernment organizations controlled by Napoles.
Based on the subpoenas, copies of which were obtained by the Inquirer, the respondents have 10 days to answer the charges and file their counteraffidavits. The preliminary investigation on the plunder cases will continue if the respondents fail to submit their reply in the allotted period, the summons said.
The Ombudsman special panel also stated in the subpoena issued on Nov. 19 that all motions to dismiss, for bill of particulars and other pleadings deemed dilatory, are strictly prohibited and shall be stricken from the records of the case.
Baligod said he had also received copies of the subpoenas for senators under investigation. “To my understanding, another set of subpoenas will be issued for members of the House of Representatives,” he said.
