What about admin’s allies, asks opposition

By: Leila B. Salaverria - 10 years ago

UNA secretary general Toby Tiangco: Something fishy. SENATE POOL FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—When it comes to its allies, the Aquino administration continues to see no evil despite their involvement in the pork barrel scam, according to the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA).

UNA Secretary General Tobias Tiangco on Saturday said that 200 days after the release of a Commission on Audit (COA) report implicating 192 lawmakers in questionable transactions involving P10 billion in allocations from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), few Liberal Party members were facing criminal charges.

“What’s really obvious and dubious is that the cases are all focused on the opposition—they don’t want to include their friends who also used the PDAF. There’s a clear coverup here,” Tiangco said in a statement.

Among those facing plunder charges in the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly funneling development funds to dummy nongovernmental organizations and pocketing kickbacks are Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr.

Enrile and Estrada are allied with UNA.

But also facing a malversation charges is Liberal Party member Rufino Biazon, the former Bureau of Customs chief who also served as Muntinlupa representative until 2010.

Tiangco said it seemed as if the other people named in the COA report, especially those close to the ruling party, were overlooked.

He asked why the authorities had not deemed it fit to bring charges against those administration allies.

“It is still unclear if the Aquino administration has plans to build strong cases against other fake NGOs named in the report as well as against members and allies of the Liberal Party,” he said.

Tiangco added that the administration was using the pork barrel scam to “persecute” the political opposition.

“If they really want to tread the [straight and righteous path], let’s be fair and leave no stone unturned,” he said, referring to the Aquino administration’s good government slogan.

The COA report covered the period 2007-2009, part of the last years of the Arroyo administration.

Among the administration allies named in the report were Joel Villanueva, the former Cibac party-list representative who now heads the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority; Iloilo Rep. Nathaniel Tupas Jr., Mandaluyong Rep. and Majority Floor Leader Neptali Gonzales, Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, former An-Waray party-list Rep. Florencio Noel, former Sen. Edgardo Angara and Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano.

All of them have denied involvement in the misuse of the PDAF.