Probe of PDAF misuse a ‘daunting’ task – De Lima
MANILA, Philippines – Justice Secretary Leila De Lima called as “daunting” the order of the Supreme Court to conduct a probe on all possible misuse of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or the pork barrel system.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
“The Supreme Court orders all prosecutorial organs of the government that all prosecutorial arm of the government are being directed to investigate and prosecute all misuse of PDAF all this years. This task is very daunting,” De Lima said Wednesday.
The high court, on Wednesday, declared PDAF as unconstitutional as well as all laws justifying it. In its ruling, it also ordered all prosecutorial organs of the government to investigate all possible misuse of the of the pork barrel fund.
De Lima said she will create a body that will study the high court’s ruling and what mechanisms to formulate.
The pork barrel fund started as early as during the administration of President Corazon Aquino.
“Now, what the IAGC (Inter-agency Anti-Graft Council) is doing is reviewing the COA Special Audit report and we know that it only covers 2007 to 2009 and the NBI [National Bureau of Investigation] is focused on the Napoles component of PDAF scam,” De Lima said.
Article continues after this advertisementShe said she will meet with the IAGC and the Office of the Ombudsman to discuss about the high court’s ruling.
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