Palace not surprised by charges vs Biazon

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The filing of graft, malversation and direct bribery charges in the Office of the Ombudsman against Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon, an ally of President Benigno Aquino, came as no surprise to Malacañang.

Biazon’s inclusion in the second batch of respondents in connection with the P10-billion pork barrel scam also dispelled the notion that the Aquino administration was undertaking a “selective prosecution” of critics of the government, said a Palace spokesperson.

“At least from the President’s point of view, he has always said that you go where the evidence takes you. We have always said that there is no partiality. I think that has been repeated, not just by the President but by the investigators themselves, by the secretary of justice,” Palace spokeswoman Abigail Valte said at a news briefing.

There was no word yet from Aquino if Biazon’s legal woes could trigger yet another revamp in the Bureau of Customs.

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma pointed out that the new list of respondents had different political leanings.

“The President’s guideline has always been: let the evidence point to the direction of the inquiry,” Coloma answered in a text message when the Inquirer asked him why other administration allies who had been linked to the scam earlier were apparently spared from prosecution by the Department of Justice.

Asked if the Palace would ask Biazon to take a leave of absence, Coloma said: “Need to verify that.”

“People will interpret things according to how they see it but these are the facts,” Valte said, stressing that the DOJ and its investigation arm, the National Bureau of Investigation, would stick to the President’s goal of exacting accountability from officials who misused their pork barrel allocations regardless of their political affiliation.

Aquino stood by Biazon when the latter offered to quit following the President’s State of the Nation Address in July in which he singled out the bureau for corruption and inefficiency.

Asked if the President would come to the aid of the customs chief this time, Valte said: “Again, I don’t really have any reaction to that yet. I want to make sure that whatever I convey to you is as accurate as the President’s statement. So, again, all related questions to the inclusion of Commissioner Biazon in the second batch of cases that are related to the PDAF scam, I would have to defer comment until such time that I have been able to speak with the President.”

Valte also begged off from commenting on whether Biazon should take a leave of absence, or quit his post.

“I would not have any comment on that for the moment. My instructions are to defer until such time that I have been able to discuss this with the President,” she said. “When the news broke out, I did already ask for guidance from the President. However, I was informed that he was in a meeting.”

Asked why Justice Secretary Leila de Lima did not include senators in the latest batch of respondents, Valte said: “From what I understand, Secretary (Leila) de Lima explained during the briefing that there may have been some names that have not been included, primarily because they are making sure that all pieces of documentary evidence are in. They also did mention that there would be others, so perhaps let’s just wait for that.”

She said that the public should be patient with the legal process initiated by the DOJ, which has yet to get past the preliminary investigation stage in the Ombudsman.

“I understand that the Ombudsman has also made public statements to the effect that they’re aware of the import of the cases that have been filed before them, and that they are also moving with the utmost dispatch on this,” she said.

“There is a process that we have to follow. And, while we in the Executive understand the import of these cases, I would assume that the Ombudsman also would not want to be peppered with allegations of (cases) being railroaded. There is a process that has to be followed and, of course, we should allow time for that.”