ShareThisCOA chief names senators, solons in irregularities
MAKATI CITY (PilipinasNews)– Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged brain in the P10-billion pork barrel fund scam, is now languishing at the Makati City Jail (MCJ) a day after she voluntarily surrendered to President Benigno S. Aquino III in Malacanang last Thursday.
This developed as the Senate opened its investigation of the pork barrel scam with Chairman Grace Pulido-Tan detailing before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee the releases of the funds, officially called the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of the Senators and the Congressmen.
During the hearing, Tan identified several senators and congressmen who may have been involved in the misuse of the PDAF, with some of them being linked to Napoles and her foundations.
Among the senators linked by Tan were former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, former Senate President Protempore Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan, Ralph Recto and former Senator Edgardo Angara who all denied allegations on the irregularities.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Ombudsman Carpio Morales teamed up for an investigation to get into the bottom of the anomalies involving the PDAF.
In response to the anomalies and the Million March of people calling for the abolition of the PDAF, President Aquino ordered the stoppage of releases of PDAF to senators and congressmen for the succeeding months even as Congress was asked to abolish the fund amounting to P27 billion in the 2014 national government budget.
Each senator is entitled to P200 million annual PDAF while each congressman gets P79 million every year.
Napoles was escorted to Camp Crame, the headquarters of the Philippine National Police in Quezon City, by President Aquino himself, accompanied by Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II for detention processing in connection with the unbailable offense of kidnapping and illegal detention of a former aide who eventually blew the whistle against her on the scam.
Late in the evening later, police escorted the handcuffed Napoles from the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame to the Makati City jail protected by bulletproof vests and others.
She was aboard a white coaster that was escorted by 10 police vehicles.
The handcuffed Napoles, visibly worried and had lost weight since she went into hiding when arrest warrant was issued for her and her brother, was clad in a pink sweat shirt and a black bullet-proof vest.
She was flanked by two lady Special Action Force members as she was taken to a small holding room.
“She was in fine condition when she left Camp Crame and prior to her departure, she underwent ECG examination,” PNP public information office head Senior Supt. Theodore Sindac said.
Secretary Roxas and Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte were at the Makati City Jail when Napoles arrived.
Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 150 Presiding Judge Elmo Alameda on Thursday ordered the immediate transfer of Napoles to the Makati jail despite an earlier petition by her lawyer Lorna Kapunan for Napoles to be committed somewhere else, except the Makati jail.
In a one-page commitment order issued around 1 p.m., Alameda ordered the jail warden of the MCJ to secure the businesswoman.
“I hereby commit to you the person of accused Janet Lim-Napoles who is charged with serious illegal detention under Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code under the information filed by Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva which was admitted by this court on August 14, 2013 and to be kept under your custody until further orders from this Court,” the commitment order read.
A copy of the order was immediately brought by Court Sheriff Bong Carreon to Camp Crame where Napoles was held since Wednesday night after her surrender to President Aquino in Malacanang Palace.
Napoles was identified as the alleged mastermind of the pork barrel scam in which part of the legislator’s Priority Development Assistance Fund were channeled into dubious non-government organizations she supposedly set up, an allegation she has denied.
Alameda set Napoles’ arraignment for serious illegal detention charge on Sept. 9.