Napoles camp to file ‘pork’ raps vs 120 lawmakers

MANILA, Philippines - The camp of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles is set to file charges against 120 lawmakers implicated in the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) anomaly, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said yesterday.

Aguirre said Napoles’ lawyer, Stephen David, informed him that they were planning to file the cases next week.

“Her lawyer told me that they were readying the charges against the additional lawmakers linked to the scam,” Aguirre said in a radio interview.

David said Napoles would submit to the Department of Justice (DOJ) a comprehensive list of lawmakers involved in the PDAF scam aside from the senators and congressmen she had named in the affidavit she signed in the presence of then DOJ chief and now Sen. Leila de Lima in 2014.

In an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel, David said his client would have named more lawmakers and government officials involved in the pork barrel anomaly, but she removed some names on the list for “practical considerations.”

Former senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Ramon Revilla Jr. and Jinggoy Estrada as well as a handful of congressmen have been charged with graft and plunder for allegedly channeling their PDAF funds to bogus non-government organizations linked to Napoles.

Enrile is out on bail. Revilla and Estrada are being held at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center at Camp Crame in Quezon City.

Aguirre earlier took a swipe at the previous administration as only three lawmakers involved in the pork barrel scam were arrested.

He said President Duterte’s supporter and former Manila councilor Greco Belgica would also file charges against officials of the previous administration over the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP). 

“They are preparing the cases against the first batch of respondents,” the justice secretary said. 

 The Supreme Court declared parts of the DAP unconstitutional on July 1, 2014.

He said the DOJ would reopen the PDAF and DAP cases because there was “selective justice” during the previous administration.

Without naming names, Aguirre said it would be up to Napoles’ camp if they would drag officials of the Liberal Party into the PDAF and DAP cases.