Palace says task force to probe Revilla Sr.

Former Sen. Ramon Revilla Sr.

MANILA, Philippines—Malacañang is leaving the fate of former Sen. Ramon Revilla Sr. to the government task force investigating the alleged pork barrel scam, following revelations that like his son, he also channeled his allotments to a fake organization run by Janet Lim-Napoles.

“We’ll leave it to the task force that is investigating all matters related to the PDAF (Priority Development Assistance Fund) anomaly,” President Aquino’s deputy spokesman, Abigail Valte, said over state-owned Radyo ng Bayan on Sunday.

Valte said it would be up to the task force—a joint effort of the Department of Justice, Commission on Audit and the Office of the Ombudsman—to determine “how the new information that has come to life would have an impact on their ongoing investigation.”

“Let’s put it through the process first,” Valte said when asked about the new allegation against the former senator.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Sunday told reporters that whistle-blowers had not given indication they planned to go after the elder Revilla.

The elder Revilla, a senator from 1992 to 2004, was accused of being among the first clients in the pork barrel scam allegedly ran by Napoles, according to whistle-blower Benhur Luy.

An undated letter alleged that Revilla had written Nestor Rodriguez, then executive director of the Department of Agriculture (DA) Caraga regional field unit, to endorse Merlina Suñas, who was head of People’s Organization for Progress and Development Foundation Inc. at the time.

The foundation would later be identified as among the bogus nongovernment organizations (NGOs) allegedly put up by Napoles as part of the pork barrel racket.

In the Revilla letter, Suñas, now a whistle-blower like Luy, was “to be the conduit in the procurement and distribution of various inputs to the small and marginal farmers.”

Revilla’s son and namesake, now a senator as well, is facing plunder charges in the Ombudsman for allegedly funneling his PDAF allocations to fake NGOs identified with Napoles.

The younger Revilla has repeatedly denied the allegation.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano urged President Aquino to weed out officials that had ties with Napoles, otherwise his antigraft campaign would be seen as feeble.

Cayetano singled out Manuel Jarmin, acting director of the DA’s Livestock Development Council, who he said had close ties with Napoles and her husband.

Cayetano said it was Jarmin who introduced Napoles and her erstwhile staff Benhur Luy to Allan Javellana, then president of the National Agribusiness Corp. (Nabcor) now being abolished over its role in the pork barrel scam.

On the radar

Jarmin was also a nominee of the party-list group identified with Napoles, Samahan ng mga Mangangalakal sa Ikauunlad ng Ekonomiya, in 2007 and incorporator of Jimmy’s Bar and Grill and Reserval 08, owned by Napoles’ husband, Jimmy, according to Cayetano.

“If it’s true that the person put in there by Napoles is still there, then she is indeed very powerful,” Cayetano said.

The senator said the President’s sincerity in “matuwid na daan” (righteous path) would be put to a test given that “there are still some corrupt who are on the radar, but are being unmasked.”

Napoles, accused of converting P10 billion in pork barrel into kickbacks using dummy foundations, forged signatures and strong political connections, is facing a plunder complaint in the Ombudsman together with three senators and 34 others.

Cayetano said the government should file charges against those involved in the pork scandal, as well as in other irregularities, to assure the public that congressional inquiries were producing results.

“You can’t blame the public. There’s so much noise but nobody is getting jailed. It’s the small fry, not the big fish, who get jailed,” he said.

And unless charges were filed against the key players, the public would perceive the government as “powerless against corrupt public officials,” he said.

“If we fail to jail the thief, the public will have only one view of the government,” he said. “There are no excuses; we have to get our acts together.”—With a report from Christine O. Avendaño

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