Former Senator Manny Villar and Senator Cynthia Villar. FILE PHOTOS
MANILA, Philippines—Sen. Cynthia Villar on Monday said her lawyers were studying the possibility of suing the people who released Janet Lim-Napoles’ list of lawmakers allegedly involved in the pork barrel racket and the media entities that published this.
Sen. Jinggoy Estrada also decried the publication of the names of senators included in Benhur Luy’s digital files “without solid basis.”
Sen. Vicente Sotto III moved that the committee on science and technology inquire into the possible violation of the Cybercrime Act.
Villar said she and her husband, former Sen. Manuel Villar, were still perplexed how their names ended up on Napoles’ lists or Luy’s file, which served as basis for the Inquirer’s 13-part series on the scam.
The senator insisted that she and her husband had not dealt with Napoles, much less endorsed their allocations from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to her nongovernment organizations (NGOs).
“They’re studying libel against the publisher, and those who released the list,” she told reporters. “We’re studying whether it’s individual or class suit, or both.”
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima submitted Napoles’ initial list of at least 11 senators to the blue ribbon committee on May 15.
At the session hall, Estrada assailed the publication of the lawmakers’ names in the Inquirer based on Luy’s files without “solid piece of evidence.”
“We have an honor to protect; we have a name to protect. I pity those legislators who are not really involved in this PDAF scam,” he told Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, the chamber’s majority leader.
Cayetano agreed that the disclosure of Napoles’ lists and Luy’s files placed the public in a “very confusing state.”
Sotto, for his part, said the committee on science and technology “should look into this matter because this is a violation of the Cybercrime Act,” noting that the files were placed in Luy’s hard disk drive.
“We should look into the matter and I hope the committee takes the discussion [into account], otherwise the Cybercrime Act will just be nothing,” he said.