Senate summons De Lima, ‘pork’ list

MANILA, Philippines - The Senate Blue Ribbon committee has summoned Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to compel her to release documents she obtained from alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles, including the list of legislators who supposedly had transactions with the businesswoman.

Blue Ribbon committee chairman Teofisto Guingona III issued the subpoena yesterday, which was signed by Senate President Franklin Drilon.

“In the spirit of transparency, I think it’s time that the list should be brought ou,” Guingona told a press briefing.

He said a list obtained by former senator Panfilo Lacson must also be bared to the public so it can be compared with the list given to De Lima.

In the subpoena, De Lima was ordered to submit by this Thursday certified true copies of Napoles’ list and the businesswoman’s affidavit on the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam.

De Lima said she would submit the list.

“Since it’s a subpoena, I will comply,” she said in a text message.

Guingona said he was assured by Lacson, now the presidential adviser for rehabilitation and recovery, that he would also present the list in his possession within the week.

The list in the possession of De Lima was part of the statements given by Napoles to her during a five-hour meeting last April 21.

Details of the list have not been released by De Lima, but it reportedly contains over a hundred names of incumbent and former lawmakers.

In the case of Lacson, his list reportedly came from Napoles’ husband Jimmy during a meeting earlier this year.

Guingona said that the committee will review the documents from De Lima and Lacson and then he would call a hearing to discuss the issues involved.

“The first step is to get the lists. Will we hold a hearing? Yes, that’s the necessary consequence,” Guingona said.

Once the committee secures the lists from De Lima and Lacson, Guingona said that these would now be treated as public documents and as such the details would be disclosed.

“I don’t see any reason why we should put it in my drawer and hide it. Yes, it can be opened to the public,” he said.

Lacson, just like De Lima, has declined to release the details of the list, saying that this could destroy the Senate as an institution.

Drilon disputed this and said the Senate as an institution will emerge stronger and more credible before the Filipino people once the truth behind the pork barrel controversy comes to light.

“We must remember that we are a government of laws, of institutions and not a government of men or individuals. The allegations of fund misuse are leveled against individuals, whether senator or congressman, and not against Congress as an institution,” Drilon said.

Drilon expressed confidence that once the legal processes have been completed, and the guilt or innocence of the legislators concerned is determined, Congress as an institution would be able to regain the trust and respect of the Filipino people.

“Officials come and go but the institution stays. The pork barrel controversy may destroy politicians but it will not destroy the institution. I am certain our democracy, our political institutions will survive this pork barrel controversy,” he added.

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, for her part, immediately dismissed Lacson’s statement.

“In particular, Lacson’s claim that his big reveal might destroy public trust in the Senate is an audible symptom of someone apparently suffering from megalomania and other grave disorders,” Santiago said in a letter to Guingona.

“The Lacson ploy should be instantly denounced as a feeble attempt to terrorize Congress into submission to his disordered scenario,” she added.

Santiago also called on the Senate Blue Ribbon committee to summon pork barrel scam whistle-blower Benhur Luy to a hearing that will focus on his alleged files containing all of the transactions of his former boss Napoles.

In a letter to Blue Ribbon committee chair Guingona, Santiago said that Luy should be made to testify about the contents of the hard drive he used to back up the files allegedly kept by Napoles in order to settle the matter of who was in the list of legislators and other government officials allegedly prepared by Napoles.

“It appears that Luy through his lawyer has expressed consent to divulging the files, including the names of public officials who allegedly received kickbacks or illegal bribes from Napoles,” Santiago said in her letter.

Santiago said that the list of Luy would also be admissible as evidence under the Rules of Court.

She said that the list could be admitted as “commercial lists and the like, which are considered admissible,” as tending to prove the truth of any relevant matter.

According to Santiago, all of the other lists from Napoles, former senator Panfilo Lacson and Sandra Cam were “likely fictional and polluted,” because they appear to be sourced from one or all of the three senators indicted for plunder.

Santiago claimed that each of the three individuals with their respective lists could be acting as attack dogs of the indicted senators.

Senator Francis Escudero also disagreed with Lacson, especially because of the fact that the purported origin of the lists is someone with credibility issues.

“It is good to ask Ping (Lacson): the Senate will fall with this list? Do you have personal knowledge or evidence that this is true? You don’t. So do you believe in everything that Napoles is saying about the list?” Escudero said.

“Essentially, what you are saying is that it is true, that’s why the Senate will fall. How can it be true? How can you believe? The issue just kept on becoming bigger because it was not released right away,” he added.

Senator Grace Poe said that it is important to determine the origin of the lists and to keep in mind that the person who provided the list was someone who was said to have lied to the people, so this should be treated very carefully.

De Lima had earlier appealed to senators to allow her office to validate the information provided by Napoles before requiring her to release the list.

She said she would comply with the subpoena, but would also ask the senators to give her more time.

But lawyer Romulo Macalintal believes that the Senate cannot compel De Lima to release the list since she is covered by executive privilege – being an alter ego of President Aquino.

“Since De Lima is the alter ego of the President, compelling her to attend the hearing without the consent of the President is equivalent to requiring the President himself to appear before Congress in violation of the constitutionally mandated principle of separation of powers,” he explained in a statement.

In a related development, a lawyer sought relief from the Supreme Court (SC) yesterday in the mounting calls for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release the Napoles list.

In a petition for mandamus, Napoleon Arenas Jr. asked the high court to compel De Lima to publish in a manner appropriate and convenient under the circumstances and in the interest of the public the so-called ‘Napolist.’

Arenas, an election lawyer and labor arbitrator, argued that the document is classified as being of public concern and should be made known to the public.

He said De Lima is required to follow the government policy on full disclosure of all its transactions involving public interest, as prescribed under Article II Section 28 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution on the “Declaration of State Policies.”

Arenas noted that the SC, in its earlier ruling striking down the pork barrel system as illegal, said reports related to the PDAF are public documents.

The SC, he stressed, held that the documents should be open for inspection and that “such right must not be prohibited but merely regulated and subject to the filing of the appropriate action for mandamus.”

Lastly, petitioner said the DOJ chief should not claim that the list is still subject for validation: “On the contrary, the most prudent thing to do under the circumstances is to publish the list and let the people decide on the veracity.”

House probe unlikely

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. shot down yesterday a proposal for the House of Representatives to conduct its own separate inquiry into the Napoles list of pork barrel fund fraud-tainted lawmakers.

“I think we will just be duplicating what the Senate has been doing. Besides, with time running out, we should concentrate on our own legislative agenda,” he said.

“Sooner or later, those Napoles list, Lacson list, Cam list, and what have you will come out,” he said.

He was referring to at least three lists of senators and House members allegedly involved in the pork barrel scam that are in the possession of suspected scam mastermind Napoles, former senator Lacson and Sandra Cam of the Whistleblowers Association.

Navotas Rep. Tobias Tiangco, who belongs to Vice President Jejomar Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), has filed a resolution seeking a separate House inquiry into the ‘Napolist.’

De Lima has confirmed that Napoles, in her five-hour meeting with her, pinned down Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr.

Enrile and Estrada are Binay allies, while Revilla chairs Lakas, the ruling party during the Arroyo administration.

President Aquino has revealed that he has seen two Napoles lists that don’t match. He was informed of Lacson’s list but has not seen it.

Tiangco also asked yesterday lawmakers to rid the House and Senate of “termites” that destroy the image of Congress.

Tiangco made the call in light of fears that Congress would collapse if the Napoles list is made public.

“It is safe to have the termites exterminated to save the entire house. What must fall, must fall,” Tiangco said.

Since there are at least three versions of the controversial list, Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III said the issue “has become foolish and funny.”

“I suggest we send those lists to Pawn Stars (a popular television show) for evaluation and then we decide what to do with them: pawn them or sell them,” he said.

Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. of Dasmariñas City in Cavite supported Belmonte’s decision to shoot down a proposed House inquiry into the Napoles list.

“Personally, I am against it, since it would not look good that we investigate an issue in which many of our colleagues have been implicated. We better leave this to the Senate,” he said.

Members of the independent bloc in the House called on the chamber’s leadership to compel De Lima to disclose the affidavit of Napoles to help Congress recover from what they called a “reputation crisis.”

Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, leader of the bloc, said they would ask the House leadership to invite De Lima and Napoles to a committee hearing or to the chamber’s Question Hour.

Romualdez and Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza said the House is plagued by a “reputation crisis” by the non-disclosure of the names of lawmakers in the list of those allegedly involved the multibillion-peso pork barrel scam.

“The damage she has inflicted upon the integrity and sanctity of the House must be stopped now,” Romualdez said.

Atienza said he believes a majority of the House members are not involved.

Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. claimed that the pork barrel scam case is not about justice but politics.

Marcos told reporters in Butuan City the government intends to put in opposition senators, especially those who plan to run in the 2016 presidential elections.

He said the filing of plunder charges would give the chance for Senators Enrile, Estrada and Revilla to answer the charges in the proper forum. – With Edu Punay, Jess Diaz, Ben Serrano, Jose Rodel Clapano