House independent bloc leader hits gov’t for refusing to release Napoles list
Leyte Representative Ferdinand Martin Romualdez INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – Independent minority leader Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said the government’s failure to release Janet Lim-Napoles’ alleged list of pork barrel scam beneficiaries is meant to force the administration’s critics to “behave.”
Speaking on behalf of the independent minority bloc, Romualdez in a briefing said the administration is using the list as a “Damocles sword” against their critics.
“Iyan na ata ang style nitong administrasyon… may nakabitin parati para behave kayo (The style of the administration is to make the release of the bill pending so that the critics would behave),” the nephew of former first lady Imelda Marcos said on Monday.
He added that this seems to send the message that critics should behave, otherwise they would be included in Napoles’ list.
“Behave ka kasi kung hindi, ilalabas natin iyong pangalan mo sa listahan (You should behave because otherwise, we will include you in the list),” Romualdez said.
Romualdez belonged to the powerful Marcos clan, the political rivals of the Aquino family. President Aquino’s father Benigno Aquino Jr. was assassinated under the Marcos regime.
Napoles’ list reportedly names 21 former and present senators and two cabinet officials who were involved in the pork barrel scam.
After the Senate blue ribbon committee issued a subpoena on her, Justice Secretary Leila De Lima has agreed to submit Napoles’ list to the Senate. She had refused to release the list amid fears that it might cause “mayhem.”
The pork barrel scam is an elaborate scheme of diverting the now defunct Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF) allegedly to the bogus organizations of Napoles for kickbacks among the businesswoman, lawmakers and other government officials.
At the House, among those charged for their alleged involvement in the scam include incumbent Masbate Governor and former Masbate Rep. Rizalina Seachon-Lanete, former APEC Rep. Edgar Valdez, former Agusan Del Sur Rep. Rodolfo Plaza, former Benguet Rep. Samuel Dangwa, and former Cagayan de Oro Rep. Constantino Jaraula.
While the Office of the Ombudsman has found probable cause to file plunder and graft charges against the senators in the scam, it has yet to release its resolution on the former House members.
While the Senate has concluded its probe on the scam, the House majority leadership refused to conduct its own even as the independent and minority blocs have called for it.
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