The accused deny; blame politics, forged signatures
Malacañang said the filing of a third batch of charges in connection with the P10-billion pork barrel scam showed the government’s “commitment to the principles of good governance and impartial justice.”
“Public interest requires that the ends of justice are served, while affording due process to the respondents. We reaffirm our commitment to the principles of good governance and impartial justice,” said Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. in a statement.
One of the officials to be charged was Joel Villanueva, the director general of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) and a close friend of President Benigno Aquino III.
“The DOJ (Department of Justice) has undertaken its responsibilities just as Secretary Villanueva will have the opportunity to make his case. The larger point here is despite what the naysayers say, the President has always respected the processes of the law,” said presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda.
Villanueva, who happened to be at the Ombudsman’s Office to testify in a graft case against former Tesda officials, just before the National Bureau of Investigation formally filed the complaints, questioned the timing of the filing.
He said it was the handiwork of his detractors, noting that it came a few months before the filing of candidacy certificates in October for the 2016 elections.
“I find it weird because I’m here to cooperate and being asked to help the government,” he told reporters.
“I have never been afraid to face the truth. I have also never backed down from the allegations thrown against me by political opponents,” he added.
Asked if the case would affect his plan to run for senator, Villanueva said: “Whether I go for it or not, it’s going to be the same. My track record in Congress and Tesda will speak for itself.”
Villanueva noted that he was mentioned four times by President Aquino in his recent State of the Nation Address as among those who are good performers in the Cabinet.
“I have never denied that I am interested in running in 2016. I’m happy with the recent survey results. I’m one of those whose ratings have been rising,” he said.
Maintaining that he has never misused his pork barrel, Villanueva said he was surprised he was included in the complaint when the NBI in its report had cleared him of the charges.
He said the NBI noted that certain letters for a different party-list used his signatures that were forged.
Off to the high court
Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez on Friday said he would ask the Supreme Court to suspend the proceedings at the Office of the Ombudsman, claiming that there was lack of due process in the filing of a case against him.
“I am filing a petition of certiorari and prohibition in the Supreme Court that will suspend the proceedings in the Ombudsman pending the remand of the complaint back to the Department of Justice for proper proceedings with due notice and hearing to be afforded to me so that I can answer all allegations against me and present my evidence,” he said.
He said he had expected the DOJ to summon him so he would be given the chance to prove the allegations wrong.
“But I was not given a chance to present my side. There was no due process. I was not given due notice and hearing,” said Rodriguez.
“I do not know Ms Janet Napoles personally or otherwise; I have never met Ms Janet Napoles nor any of her employees personally anywhere at any time; I never had any transaction whatsoever with Ms Janet Napoles nor any of her employees or any nongovernment organization (NGO)/person associated with her; I do not know and have never met personally any officer/functionary of any NGO associated with or owned by Ms Janet Napoles; and I never received any amount of money from her,” Rodriguez said in a statement.
He said he had all 18 documents supposedly linking him to the scam examined by the NBI, which “came out with an official finding that all my 18 signatures in all 18 documents were forgeries.”
‘Politically motivated’
Manila Rep. Amado Bagatsing said the filing of the case against him may be politically motivated, considering he only recently announced he was running for mayor of Manila next year.
READ: Eyeing mayoralty, Bagatsing hits Estrada, Lim for Manila woes
Bagatsing said he could not see why he was included in the third batch of cases when Napoles had already cleared him of involvement in the pork barrel scam.
“I don’t know why they involved me. There are others who have hundreds of million pesos worth of projects,” he told Radyo Inquirer.
Bagatsing said he gave copies of documents to the DOJ showing that the request for pork barrel funds did not come from his office.
He said all three documents supposedly linking him to one of Napoles’ bogus NGOs did not bear his office letterhead and had apparently been forged.
Lack of due process
Abono party-list Rep. Conrado Estrella III on Friday maintained that he was innocent of the charges.
“I vehemently deny the allegation of anomaly in the implementation of my PDAF projects, the proper execution of which should have been the primary responsibility of the implementing agencies,” he said.
According to Estrella, he had already been investigated by the NBI and the Ombudsman and the investigations concluded that his signatures were forged in the documents allegedly used by the fake NGOs to access his PDAF allotments.
He said the NBI and the Ombudsman also issued certifications that he did not sign the documents. He said the Ombudsman had also determined that the services for which his PDAF was spent had reached the intended beneficiaries.
According to Estrella, one of the whistle-blowers had already issued a sworn statement supporting his claim that all projects funded by his PDAF had been “properly implemented.”
He described the decision of the DOJ to file charges as “a knee-jerk reaction to opposition-generated criticism that the DOJ is delaying the PDAF scam cases.”
“It is very ironic that the findings of the NBI, which is under the DOJ, would be contradicted by the mother agency,” he said.
Estrella also said he did not have a staff member named Ronald Casareno, who allegedly coordinated with the Napoles-owned foundations in facilitating in the release of his PDAF.
“Clearly, there is lack of due process here because when the whistle-blowers were called to get their statements, we were never given a chance to air our side and to dispute their allegation against us,” he said.
Sen. Gregorio Honasan and the other lawmakers who were similarly charged did not reply to requests for comment as of press time. With a report from Nancy Carvajal and Yolanda Sotelo, Inquirer Northern Luzon
RELATED STORIES
Honasan, Villanueva, 7 others face raps over pork barrel scam
Honasan, 10 others face malverse raps
