Aquino not letting go of Cabinet men named on pork scam lists

President Benigno Aquino III. AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino III has gone wary of versions of the so-called Janet Lim-Napoles’ list, which have also implicated some of his Cabinet members and closest political allies in the pork barrel scam.

The President rejected on Thursday calls to remove members of his official family, saying he would not do so just because they have been linked to the racket without solid evidence yet.

“I think it’s wrong that just because someone criticized [a Cabinet member], I should sack him right away. Perhaps what’s important is—is there evidence?” he told reporters in Filipino on the sidelines of the inauguration of 22-megawatt solar power plant in Negros Occidental.

Mr. Aquino cited the case of Director General Joel Villanueva of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), who was included in the list attached to the unsigned Napoles affidavit, which was released Tuesday by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.

The copy was made available by Secretary Panfilo Lacson, who claimed he got the documents from Napoles’ husband Jimmy.

Mr. Aquino questioned the veracity of a key evidence against his close friend Villanueva. It was a document with a letterhead bearing the name of another partylist organization, not the Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption, of which Villanueva was a congressional representative.

Also mentioned in Lacson’s version of the Napoles list were Budget Secretary Florencio Abad and Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala.

The President reminded his Cabinet members’ critics that an accused was considered “innocent until proven guilty, not guilty until you prove yourself innocent.”

“In the end, I only have one official family. Do I have trust in them or not? What actually is the allegation against them? I’ve already promised you—and I think you’ve seen it—that if there’s sufficient evidence, we take [pork scam suspects] to court and that’s what happened when we filed the information before the Ombdusman,” he said.

The Department of Justice has so far filed two batches of criminal cases before the Office of the Ombudsman against officials who allegedly pocketed hefty commissions in the massive misuse of pork barrel allocations.

Leading in the charge sheet are Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Ramon Revilla Jr. and Jinggoy Estrada, and Napoles.

“I think my obligation to the people is to ensure that we file a strong case so the guilty would really be punished,” the President said. “The flipside is if you file [a case] based on speculations and without basis… the case would be dismissed.”

If this happened, he said those involved in the pork barrel would in effect be gifted with a “perpetual ‘get-out-of-jail card” because they could not be charged with the same offense under the principle of double jeopardy.

The President cited the inconsistent number of senators linked to the pork barrel scam based on unofficial lists. He recalled last week’s meeting with Lacson when he said he asked “in passing” where the secretary got his list and how many senators were mentioned there.

“The first list given to me mentioned 14 senators. The next one—supposedly coming from Ms. Napoles—now listed 11. Ping’s list also mentioned 11, I think. So how come there was a single source but it was referring to different numbers?” he said in Filipino, referring also to the 25 senators mentioned in a newspaper report.

“So now, do we file cases against the 25 and leave everything to Batman? Or do we make sure that if we file the case, all the evidence is there, and do it at the right time so that [the guilty] will pay?”

Besides Lacson’s copy, whistleblower Sandra Cam also claimed that she had been given one. Justice Secretary Leila De Lima supposedly has Napoles’ initial affidavit but was still waiting for a more complete account of the pork barrel racket.

“Honestly, where is this headed?” the President asked, referring to the conflicting numbers he had been presented on senators allegedly linked to the scam. “So what would be Chapter 3 or [the] third revision?”

Mr. Aquino was wary that Napoles would end up revising his story later on.

“So it’s important that we get her testimony that would help us get to the truth. Perhaps they just want us to be confused—and that we will not allow,” he said.

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