'Senate probe on pork barrel not just for show'

MANILA, Philippines - Senator Teofisto "TG" Guingona III assured Wednesday that the Senate's investigation into the alleged pork barrel mess is not merely for show.

Reacting to some sectors calling the upcoming Senate Blue Ribbon probe on the priority development allocation fund (PDAF) scam as "moro-moro," Guingona said the committee will be impartial.

"I believe that the lists of accomplishments of the Blue Ribbon Committee will speak for its integrity and impartiality when it comes to investigating accountability of public officers," said Guingona, the committee chair.

"I assure the people that neither their money nor time will be wasted with the investigations that we will tackle," he added.

On Thursday, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee is set to probe the political scandal, which allegedly funneled lawmakers' PDAF through bogus non-government organizations for ghost projects.

Businesswoman and fugitive Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged scam mastermind, remains at large after an arrest warrant was issued against her stemming from the illegal detention charges filed by scam whistleblower Benhur Luy.

Senate probe might turn into circus?

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago has feared that the Senate pork barrel scam probe might turn into a circus where lawmakers will fight for media mileage.

The feisty senator said if the Senate proceeds with its public hearing on the Commission on Audit (COA) report on the pork barrel mess, the result could be a "freewheeling talkfest, if not a total three-ring circus as senators vie for TV exposure.”

Santiago instead proposed that the Senate should divide its probe into separate topics, since the scam is so "galactic in scope.”

The senator said some of the separate topics should be: lawmakers who gave pork barrel funds to suspicious non-government organizations, the modus operandi of these NGOs, like those linked to Janet Lim Napoles; and the alleged connivance of COA resident auditors and district engineers of the Department of Public Works and Highways.

The COA revealed that 74 lawmakers exceeded their pork barrel allocation from 2007 to 2009.