Justice Secretary Leila De Lima. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The Senate blue ribbon committee on Tuesday resumed its investigation into the P10-billion “pork barrel” scam but without principal witness Benhur Luy and other whistle-blowers.
Only Justice Secretary Leila de Lima was present when the committee headed by Senator Teofisto Guingona III opened at around 9:30 a.m.
The absence of Luy and other whistle-blowers irked Guingona.
“Madam Secretary, this is unprecedented,” he said.
“I did not issue a subpoena because (we have an agreement that you would bring them here) and I relied that representation. I relied on that agreement,” Guingona said.
In her letter to the committee Monday, De Lima said the whistle-blowers could not attend this Tuesday’s hearing, citing the rules of the Office of the Ombudsman prohibiting “publicity” when the case has been filed in court.
But De Lima’s invocation of the Ombudsman’s rules did not sit well with the chairman of the committee.
“You invoked the rules of the Ombudsman on that letter. In my opinion, you can’t invoke the rules of the Ombudsman because you’re not the Ombudsman,” Guingona said.
Luy first appeared in the hearing last September 12 when he narrated how some legislators allegedly received kickbacks from Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged mastermind in the scam.