Former senator and now rehabilitation czar Panfilo “Ping” Lacson. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Make that at least 16 former or incumbent senators originally named in alleged mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles’ list of legislators allegedly involved in the pork barrel scam.
Former senator and presidential assistant for rehabilitation Panfilo Lacson on Wednesday revised his previous count that the number of senators in the list earlier given to him by the Napoles family was only half of the 24-member upper chamber.
“Actually, when I said before that it’s enough to constitute a quorum, I was wrong—actually, it’s enough to ratify a treaty,” he told Malacañang reporters in Filipino. This would mean that there are at least 16 senators or ex-senators named on the list now in his possession.
Meanwhile, calls for Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to release the names of the legislators named in her own copy of the Napoles list’s affidavit.
Several Catholic bishops on Wednesday joined members of Congress in demanding that the justice secretary release the names.
De Lima said the list would not be released until after the justice department has evaluated and verified its contents, but confirmed that Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr. had been “absolutely” named in the document.
“Why does she [De Lima] need to verify the list when it was already Napoles, the (supposed) mastermind of the scam, who gave to her the names?” Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz said.
Cruz noted that the Department of Justice did not “further evaluate” the disclosures concerning the opposition senators—Ponce Enrile, Estrada and Revilla—who were alleged to be involved in the scam.
What’s keeping it?
Sen. Francis Escudero said it wasn’t the job of any government agency to “vet” or validate the affidavit of anybody.
Escudero wondered what was keeping De Lima and other personalities from disclosing the list in public when the law wasn’t stopping them from doing so.
The longer the list is kept from the public, the more it becomes “more mysterious,” he said.
De Lima should let the list of “pork barrel” senators speak for itself as such a disclosure doesn’t constitute a threat to national security, said Escudero.
“Let it stand or fall based on what it says there, whether it has mixture of truth, or of lies, or whether it’s full of lies or truth, whether it’s storytelling or storytelling a lie,” Escudero told reporters.
Escudero said he wasn’t afraid of the prospect of being mentioned in the list, knowing that he never allocated his pork barrel allotments to Napoles or her foundations.
“She (Napoles) has lied once to the country. Why should anyone be afraid of being mentioned in the list? Whoever is mentioned should answer, explain and defend himself,” he said.
Clean up the list
Lacson said he believed De Lima when she said that she would not “sanitize” the Napoles affidavit.
“I don’t think so. Knowing her, she would not clean up the list,” he said, adding that he would raise a howl if the document now being evaluated by the justice department were to turn up later without the names of President Aquino’s allies whom he said were in his copy of the Napoles list.
Lacson earlier said he had been given a copy of Napoles’ draft affidavit about a month before the alleged mastermind of the pork barrel scam met with De Lima at the Ospital ng Makati.
The draft affidavit reportedly implicated more than 100 government officials, including those currently serving in the Aquino administration, in the pork barrel scam.
Like De Lima, Lacson has refused to divulge the contents of his copy of the Napoles list.
Sandra Cam, president of the Whistleblowers’ Association of the Philippines, claims to also have a copy of the Napoles list. Lacson could not say whether Cam’s copy was the same as his.
“Whatever her list is, I don’t know about it. We didn’t talk about a list. It didn’t come from me,” he said.
A number of Catholic bishops on Wednesday said De Lima should release the Napoles list to remove any suspicion that the Aquino administration was protecting its allies involved in the scam.
Even if it hurts
At least five prelates said in separate interviews over the Church-run Radio Veritas that De Lima must already disclose the names of past and present lawmakers involved in the theft of the congressional pork barrel, officially called the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).
“It should be made public and concerned public officials should be held accountable as soon as possible,” said Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, chair of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) public affairs committee.
“The longer De Lima withholds [the list], it will make us more suspicious. The truth will set us free even if it hurts,” said Pabillo.
San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza, Batanes Bishop Camilo Gregorio, Novaliches Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani and Cruz agreed that the list should be made public now.
“It should be released so that it can be verified. We all know who are in the list,” said Gregorio.
“President Aquino promised to be transparent as we trek through ’matuwid na daan.’ The people have a right to know who’s on the list,” said Bishop Efraim Tendero, national director of the Philippine Council for Evangelical Churches.
He said making the list public will expose corrupt political figures, both in the opposition and administration, and pave the way for an investigation.—With TJ Burgonio
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