‘Napoles case needs 2nd look’

MANILA, Philippines – The plot thickens.

After accusing Sen. Leila de Lima of benefiting from drug money, President Duterte yesterday vowed to disclose “revealing” details about the pork barrel scam case that he said would “horrify” the senator.

Duterte said the case of Janet Lim Napoles, the businesswoman tagged as the brains behind the multibillion-peso fund scam, deserves a second look.

“Wait until we revisit the Napoles case, Secretary or Senator De Lima. And I assure you, you will be horrified,” Duterte told a press conference in Davao City.

“It involves corruption and De Lima,” he added without elaborating.

Napoles has been accused of diverting congressional allocations or “pork barrel” to dummy non-government organizations for ghost projects worth more than P10 billion. She has denied the allegations and insisted all of her earnings were legitimate.

De Lima was justice secretary when the investigations into the funding scam started.

Several officials have been charged in connection with the scam, prodding some groups to question the legality of the pork barrel before the Supreme Court.

The pork barrel fund, officially known as Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2013.

The SC said PDAF violated the principle of separation of powers because it allowed lawmakers “to wield, in varying gradations, non-oversight, post-enactment authority in vital areas of budget executions.”

Duterte lamented that “a lot of billions and billions of pesos” were lost because of the pork barrel scam. He noted that some lawmakers were placed behind bars only because the accusation against them of plunder is non-bailable.

“In the meantime, they (lawmakers) are in prison but is not enough vindication for the Filipino people,” Duterte said.

Last week, Duterte accused De Lima of having an illicit affair with her married driver, whom, he said, collected drug money to support her senatorial bid this year.

De Lima, who has been criticizing the Duterte administration’s anti-drug war, has denied any involvement in narcotics and even claimed the President would lose face for making such allegation.

Duterte said he made the expose because De Lima made herself popular at his expense. He cited De Lima’s effort to link him to the Davao Death Squad, the vigilante group believed to be behind the killing of suspected criminals in the city.

“I have to quarrel with you (De Lima). It was you who started this ruckus many years ago,” Duterte said during yesterday’s press conference.

“Now that you are at the receiving end of all of these, you should not be heard complaining because there are serious matters already arrayed against you,” he added.

Lawmakers said they are ready to conduct an investigation into the allegations against De Lima.

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez stressed the need for the House of Representatives to investigate the alleged link of De Lima to drug syndicates, noting that illegal drugs had a heyday inside the national penitentiary when the senator was still head of the Department of Justice.

“Let us investigate why during the term of now Senator De Lima, illegal drugs proliferated inside New Bilibid Prison. That is what we should investigate,” Alvarez said.

Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, chairman of the House committee on dangerous drugs, said a resolution has been referred to the House committee on justice, but he sees no problem should there be a joint hearing.

“I think it’s possible (joint hearing) because the subject of the inquiry is the proliferation of drugs at NBP without specifying who was the head of agency but of course we cannot avoid to mention the name of Senator De Lima,” Barbers said. – Alexis Romero, Edith Regalado, Delon Porcalla