Gov’t eyes Napoles testimony to pursue other pork scammers

Janet Lim Napoles. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA

The government is considering taking the testimony of Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged mastermind of the pork barrel scam, to help the Duterte administration in its review of the country’s biggest political scandal.

Currently, only three senators have been charged for the misuse of their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and several lawmakers have been charged with plunder or graft or both before the Sandiganbayan.

“Yes, actually plano namin yan [talk to Napoles],” Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said, adding that it is part of their case build up.

President Duterte has ordered a review of the PDAF cases to determine the other former and incumbent officials who should be held liable for fund misuse.

Aguirre earlier said that the Department of Justice (DOJ) during the watch of Leila de Lima has suppressed evidence against some government officials. He noted that when Napoles first surfaced, she was brought to Malacañang and accompanied by a former ranking official in Camp Crame.

In 2014, Napoles identified senators as well as 69 other congressmen who allegedly benefitted from the pork scam. Many of the legislators were members of the Liberal Party.

However, only three senators have been charged with plunder by the Office of the Ombudsman before the Sandiganbayan.