DOJ urged: Name names

MANILA, Philippines - Whether it’s 12 or 19 senators implicated by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles in the pork barrel scam, Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano urged Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to make a full disclosure of their identities so that they would be given a chance to defend themselves.

Former and incumbent senators were allegedly in a list of names provided separately by Napoles to De Lima and former senator Panfilo Lacson, now presidential assistant on rehabilitation and recovery.

“I ask both Secretary De Lima and Secretary Ping, in the spirit of transparency and accountability, to reveal names mentioned by Ms. Napoles,” Cayetano said.

“By naming names the investigation could proceed and be completed, those mentioned can defend themselves and the institutions (Senate and House of Representatives) could take measures to preserve their integrity by disciplining their members,” he added.

De Lima confirmed that apart from Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr., there were additional names mentioned by Napoles in her “tell-all” affidavit, where she revealed the involvement of lawmakers in the fund anomaly.

Lacson told reporters that there were at least 12 senators in the list provided to him by the husband of Napoles, Jimmy, last month that formed part of a draft affidavit they prepared in relation to the pork barrel scam.

Lacson refused to provide any other information about the list of lawmakers, except that they were involved in one way or another in the transfer of government funds to the foundations linked to Napoles.

Cayetano aired his concern that the actions of Napoles could be politically motivated, but he would still prefer to have the names revealed so that this particular issue could be resolved right away.

“I’ve always been in favor of naming names, especially if there is a document,” Cayetano said.

Abakada-Guro party-list Rep. Jonathan de la Cruz, a member of the independent bloc in the House of Representatives, also urged yesterday De Lima to immediately disclose to the public the confession of Napoles on the pork barrel scam.

De la Cruz said De Lima as a public official should not be bound by any confidentiality agreement with Napoles, who is accused as the brains behind the misuse of the pork barrel or Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of congressmen and senators.

He also chided Napoles’ lawyer for “treating Filipinos like stupid” in claiming that his client is not the brains behind the scam that reportedly involved scores of lawmakers and officials from various government agencies.

“Two months ago, Secretary De Lima has repeatedly stated that Napoles is the brains, the architect of the pork barrel scam, and now she is conditioning the minds of the people that she could actually be a state witness or a heroine? Why the turnaround?” De la Cruz told The STAR.

“She said Napoles is the one who completely understands (the scam) and has arrayed all her whistle-blowers against her, and now they’re changing their absurd drama, and will likely find someone else to demonize in public as the new brains or mastermind,” he said.

He said De Lima has the obligation to the public to bare the confession because she is not supposed to be Napoles’ lawyer “but the lawyer of the people.”

He said De Lima’s refusal to disclose Napoles’ statements was in stark contrast to her willingness to parade her whistle-blowers before the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, which is not a prosecuting body nor a court.

De Lima, however, stood firm in her decision not to disclose at this time the list of other lawmakers involved in the pork barrel scam pending validation of information.

“We will reveal the list after we complete the verification. Right now we’re doing an extensive verification. When I do share with the public the list of Mrs. Napoles, I’ll be able to say which ones are true and credible and which ones are untrue,” she told reporters in an interview in Baguio City yesterday.

Several senators have already urged the DOJ to release the list, saying a delay would only invite allegations of whitewash.

Sources told The STAR that there are at least two incumbent senators allied with the administration included in the list.

Apart from gathering documentary evidence, De Lima said they would also countercheck the veracity of statements made by Napoles with the whistle-blowers led by Benhur Luy.

The DOJ chief said there is no conflict “so far” when they compared the affidavit of Napoles with the statements of the whistle-blowers.

De Lima showed reporters several documents provided by Napoles as evidence.

As to the reservations expressed by Luy and the other whistle-blowers on Napoles becoming a state witness, De Lima reiterated that the DOJ has yet to assess the credibility and qualification of the detained businesswoman.

She assured the whistle-blowers that they would not be sidelined in the plunder cases against those involved in the pork barrel scam should Napoles be accepted as state witness.

“How can they be sidelined? They will be needed for verification and validation process,” she stressed.

Even Napoles’ lawyer Bruce Rivera dispelled the fears of the whistle-blowers, saying their raising the alarm on the possibility of her becoming state witness had no basis.

“If they’re telling the whole truth, why should they be worried? Mrs. Napoles wants to tell the whole truth also so there will be no conflict there – unless they sanitized some information which should really be cause for alarm on their part,” Rivera added.

He believes the testimonies of Napoles would jive with those of the whistle-blowers.

“My appeal to Senator Lacson, of course subject to what he discussed with his source in confidence, is to give the details and then just let the people mentioned defend themselves,” he added.

Until such time that the names in the alleged list are revealed, Cayetano said that everyone in the Senate would be under a cloud of suspicion.

Napoles’ motive

Cayetano said that he was wary about the reported plan of Napoles to tell all because there is no way of knowing what she intends to do, as well as her motives.

“By just saying I will tell all does not make you a credible witness or doesn’t mean that everything you will tell is the truth. You can tell all lies or half truth and half lies,” he said.

Cayetano said that he was not in favor of making Napoles a state witness, particularly because no evidence has been presented to convince him that she and his three colleagues in the Senate were not the most guilty in the pork barrel scam.

He said that he is willing to listen to what Napoles has to say and if she is able to show that she was merely a middleman and there was someone else above her, then that would change the equation.

“But as to making them state witness as of this point in time, no. There may be information that they may give that can make me change my mind. But at this point, in my mind it appears that Mrs. Napoles with the three senators are the most guilty. So she’s not qualified to be a state witness,” Cayetano said.

“So I’m still uneasy on making her a state witness and letting her go because what message will that tell the people? That if you steal, steal big so that if you spill the beans and return some of that money, you will be absolved,” he added.

At best, Cayetano said that Napoles could be given some leniency, such as a shorter jail term, if she is able to provide valuable information to the prosecution and if she returns all the money that she stole from the government.

“The paper trail will be important and it has to be independently verifiable,” Cayetano said.

Sen. Francis Escudero also raised doubts yesterday over the credibility of Napoles.

Escudero was a bit cautious in welcoming Napoles’ change of heart, as she has now vowed to do a tell-all against the senators and lawmakers tagged in the pork barrel scam.

He said the justice department should not accept Napoles’ claims at face value but review her testimony before accepting her as applicant for state witness.

Escudero challenged the justice department to reveal details of Napoles’ affidavit to ensure that there is no attempt to remove from the list certain persons who enjoy the support of the administration.

Escudero said he could not understand why they were hiding the list, claiming the need to validate or verify.

“I can see that this can cause a delay (in the filing of the case) and confusion. What will be the effect? It will all depend on what her affidavit will say. But I see credence in the stance of the lawyers of the whistle-blowers, who questioned the motive of Napoles’ decision to come out now,” Escudero added.

Escudero wondered why the camp of the whistle-blowers led by Luy and socialite Ruby Tuason were not contented with the move of Napoles.

He added that he does not see anything wrong if the Senate Blue Ribbon committee will reopen its inquiry and summon Napoles.

Napoles does not appear less guilty as far as Escudero is concerned. “At this point, only the Ombudsman and the Sandiganbayan can determine if she is qualified as state witness,” the senator said.

Escudero quickly downplayed any possible attempt to link him to the controversy.

“Once she implicates me, I am ready to answer the allegations because these (rumors) are not true,” he said.

Escudero said Napoles’ decision to tell all is affecting the formal filing of plunder complaint against the senators and some lawmakers because the Ombudsman and the Sandiganbayan now need to review her affidavit.

Senate President Franklin Drilon said Napoles should also back up her claims with credible documentary evidence so that the pork barrel inquiry will not be reduced to mudslinging and black propaganda.

Drilon reiterated that the charges “must be supported by compelling and undeniable documentary evidence.”

“Because under the rules of court and under our rules of evidence, where the subject of the inquiry is the content of the document, the best evidence is the document. No other evidence is better than the document, because documents do not lie,” Drilon said.

In a press conference at the Senate yesterday afternoon, Drilon also dodged insinuations that he is among the senators implicated by Napoles in the pork barrel scam. With Christina Mendez, Paolo Romero, Edu Punay