Mar on plunder raps: Pathetic

MANILA, Philippines — The plunder and graft charges filed against former Cabinet secretaries of the Aquino administration show the Duterte administration's lack of accomplishments, former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said Wednesday.

The Department of Transportation had filed plunder and graft charges against Roxas, eight former Cabinet secretaries and 21 officers and private individuals for their alleged involvement in anomalous transactions of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 system.

"In a word? Pathetic. Dahil walang mapakitang accomplishment sa mga ipinangako, nagimbento ng kasong walang laman, walang basehan sa katotohanan o sa batas para ipakitang may ginagawa sila," Roxas said in a statement.

The former Interior secretary said that he will withhold further comment on the issue until he receives a copy of the complaint.

Roxas was only informed of the complaint through media reports as he is out of the country.

"This is laughable on its face," he said.

READ: Abaya, Roxas, others face plunder complaint over MRT deal

Meanwhile, Sen. Francis Pangilinan, president of the Liberal Party, said that the criminal charges filed against former officials of the Aquino administration seem to be a cover-up.

"When the issue is shifted from the quiet, everyday suffering of commuters who only want to get to work or school or home, it is not simply disrespectful, it is deception," Pangilinan said in a statement.

The senator said that the case against former Aquino Cabinet members should be compared to cases involving allies of the current administration — the reinstatement of Superintendent Marvin Marcos despite the murder case against him, the extortion case against former Immigration Commissioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles and the smuggling of P6.4 billion worth of shabu involving Customs officials.

"Critics are silenced, allies go scot-free," Pangilinan said.

Pangilinan, however, remains confident that the Office of the Ombudsman will be fair in handling the case against nine Cabinet secretaries and three undersecretaries of the Aquino administration.

"We are confident that the former secretaries accused of wrongdoing will be able to defend and exonerate themselves," he said.

Also charged before the Office of the Ombudsman were former secretaries Joseph Emilio Abaya (transportation), Florencio Abad (budget), Cesar Purisima (finance), Jericho Petilla (energy), Mario Montejo (science), Voltaire Gazmin (defense), Rogelio Singson (public works) and Arsenio Balisacan (economic development).