6.12.14 anti-‘pork’ protest on with or without arrests–lawyer

MANILA, Philippines – With or without the arrest of all those named in the pork barrel scam, the rally set on June 12 against the scandal will push through, a lawyer told Radyo Inquirer 990AM in an interview Friday.

“The purpose of 6.12.14 movement is to send all those involved in the pork barrel scam to jail. When we say all, we don’t mean those only 3 [named Senators]. Three will not definitely satisfy our basic demand for justice; to prosecute all those involved in the pork barrel scandal and to scrap all pork – whether it’s legislative or presidential,” said Argee Guevarra.

Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada and Ramong “Bong” Revilla Jr. are facing arrest for plunder after being identified as having channeled their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel to bogus nongovernment organizations (NGOs) created by alleged mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.Guevarra filed a plunder case against Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, who was also named in the pork barrel scam for allegedly overspending the funds of the Department of Agriculture for the importation of rice in Vietnam.Guevarra also expressed fears of an alleged conspiracy to name Commission on Audit Chairman Grace Pulido-Tan as the next chief justice which, he said, may affect the progress of the investigation.“Well, our call is for people to join the protest. This is the right time to join and to express our patriotism since [the] Million People March started in Luneta. This is for us to be continuously vigilant and that may this serve as a warning to our President that we are not happy with his administration and that he will be held accountable,” he added. Jersy Hortaleza 

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