Cayetano urges colleagues: prioritize Malampaya investigation

Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter  Cayetano is urging the Senate to start investigating the alleged misuse of P900 million Malampaya gas funds that were supposed to aid farmers affected by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng in 2009 but ended up in the pockets of the corrupt.

“This is another atrocity that has been committed against the Filipino people who are still in outrage over the P10-billion pork barrel scandal. Dapat nating malaman kung sino ang mga ito at parusahan (We should expose the culprits and punish them),” Cayetano said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Ang tingin ko ay dapat magkaroon na ng partial report itong PDAF. Then Malampaya na dapat ang susunod,” he said.

(I think there should be a partial report on PDAF. Then start the Malampaya hearings)

PDAF is Priority Development Assistance Fund also known as “pork barrel” funds, the alleged source of corruption, which has been the subject of investigation by the Senate blue ribbon committee.

Cayetano said he had already asked the committee chair, Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, to start scheduling the hearings on the Malampaya issue.

“Hiningi ko sa kanya na dinggin at simulan ang hearing sa Malampaya scam para ang bawat isyu na lumabas ay maimbestigahan upang makita ng mamamayan kung sino ang mga nangungurakot at kung saan napupunta ang pondo,” said the senator.

(I requested him to start the hearing on the Malampaya scam so that each issue that came out would be investigated and the people would know who plundered and pocketed the funds)

Cayetano filed Senate Resolution No. 271 last year, directing the committee to look into allegations that the Malampaya funds were funnelled to bogus non-government organizations established by the now-detained businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.

The resolution also directs the committee to determine the alleged involvement of some government officials, particularly in the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), in the controversy.

Cayetano emphasized the need for the government to shed light into the issue “given its magnitude.”

“There is no viler form of corruption than stealing from those who were devastated by calamities,” he said.

“Alam naman natin kung gaano ang pinsala sa buhay at sa kabuhayan ang dala ng mga bagyong Pepeng at Ondoy, lalo na sa ating mga magsasaka. Itong P900 million ay dapat nagamit upang sila ay tulungan na makabangon.”

(We all know the devastation brought by typhoons Pepeng and Ondoy especially to farmers and their livelihood. This P900 million should have been used to help them recover.)

“Wala parin takot ang mga kurakot sa atin bansa. Dapat ma-expose, maimbestigahan at makasuhan ang mga gumawa ng mga scam na ito. Isa-isahin ng Senado, hanggang buong katotohanan ay mailabas,” Cayetano added.

(The corrupt people in our country are still unperturbed. The people responsible for this scam should be exposed, investigated and prosecuted. They should be identified one by one in the Senate until we unearth the whole truth)

Cayetano also asked both Malacanang and the Congress to prioritize the enactment of the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill, saying it is the Filipino people’s most effective “insurance against graft and corruption in government.

Once Congress resumes session in May, he said he will also push for other reforms in the country’s criminal justice system such as the Whistleblowers Act, the strengthened Witness Protection Program and the designation of special criminal courts that will conduct daily trials for high-profile cases and heinous crimes.

“Let’s investigate, expose then prosecute, but let’s also strengthen institutions by putting in needed reforms,” Cayetano added.

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