Faces of the news

Illustrations by Rene Elevera

Melchor Arthur Carandang

The Office of the President on July 30 dismissed Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Arthur Carandang for allegedly releasing to the media information about the Ombudsman’s now-aborted investigation into the alleged unexplained wealth of President Duterte and his family. The Palace ignored the Supreme Court’s Jan. 28, 2014, decision declaring unconstitutional the Ombudsman Act provision that gave the President disciplinary powers over the officials of this independent constitutional body. The Palace made its move only days after the retirement of Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, who had earlier resisted the order to suspend Carandang pending investigation and initiated an internal probe to assert her office’s power over its own officials. Critics said this development was a litmus test of incoming Ombudsman Samuel Martires’ independence from the President who appointed him.

Janet Lim-Napoles

A US federal grand jury has indicted alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles, her three children, her brother and her sister-in-law this week for allegedly funneling $20 million in pork barrel funds to bank accounts in Southern California and converting the amounts into real estate properties and luxury vehicles. But presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the government could not extradite Napoles to the United States, while she faced multiple charges in the Sandiganbayan in connection with the pork barrel and Malampaya fund scams. Napoles’ former employee-turned-whistleblower, Benhur Luy, testified before the Sandiganbayan on Aug. 2 that he had wired money to the US accounts. Napoles is said to have masterminded an intricate scheme to siphon off the pork barrel of lawmakers to her network of spurious foundations.

Hun Sen

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen celebrated his victory in an uncontested election this week and quickly criticized opposition figures who were prevented from participating in the polls. Opposition figures called for a boycott of the vote after the most viable opposition party was dissolved last year and barred from running. Some 6.9 million votes were cast in Sunday’s election, but nearly 600,000 ballots were spoiled. The achievement of Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party in winning all 125 parliamentary seats cements the Cambodian strongman’s 33-year rule. Immediately after the vote, Cambodia’s main ally, China, urged foreign governments not to interfere in Cambodia’s internal affairs despite Hun Sen’s announcement that he would further crack down on the opposition. Cambodia’s new parliament will convene on Sept. 19, with the government to be formed a day later.

Delfin Lee

After just four years in detention, real estate magnate Delfin Lee won a reprieve from the Supreme Court when it downgraded his indictment from syndicated estafa, a nonbailable offense, to simple estafa, allowing him to post bail. Lee’s company, Globe Asiatique Realty Holdings Corp., allegedly duped the government of some P7 billion in housing loans through an elaborate scheme of double sale and ghost buyers of its units at Xevera subdivisions in Bacolor town and Mabalacat City, Pampanga province. Lee was arrested in 2014 by policemen outside an upscale hotel casino in Manila after hiding for two years from authorities. Pending the official release of the decision, Supreme Court spokesperson Theodore Te said he could not cite the reasons behind the court’s 7-5 vote with two abstentions in granting Lee’s petition seeking his temporary freedom.

Jinggoy Estrada

The P10-billion pork barrel scam has continued to cast a long shadow over former Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, who is reportedly trying to resuscitate his political career by throwing his hat into the 2019 senatorial elections. Accused of pocketing some P183 million of his pork barrel allocations, Estrada failed in his latest attempt to seek the Supreme Court’s intervention after it agreed that Ombudsman prosecutors had presented enough evidence to indict him for plunder and a string of graft charges. But the high court’s ruling did not void the Sandiganbayan’s decision granting Estrada his temporary freedom while standing trial for plunder, a nonbailable offense. Despite the overwhelming evidence, the son of former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada has maintained that he is innocent of the charges and that his indictment is politically motivated.