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MANILA, Philippines – For the senators to “gather more facts and be able to see the truth” in the alleged pork barrel scam, Gigi Reyes and other staff implicated with their senator-bosses should be subpoenaed by the Senate blue ribbon committee.
The one calling for it is Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, who months ago had a very public quarrel with Reyes, then chief of staff of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, over Senate funds and local politics in Taguig.
In a letter to committee chairman Sen Teofisto “TG” Guingona III on Tuesday, October 1, Cayetano asked for the issuance of a subpoena for the following:
1. Lawyer Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes, former Enrile chief of staff
2. Jose Antonio Evangelista, Enrile deputy chief of staff
3. Pauline Labayen, resigned appointments secretary of Sen Jinggoy Estrada
4. Richard Cambe, staff of Sen Bong Revilla
5. Mae Catherine Santos
Reyes, Labayen and Cambe are among 38 individuals facing a complaint for plunder, malversation of funds, bribery and graft and corruption before the Ombudsman for the pork barrel scam.
READ: 38 charged in pork barrel scam
Enrile, Revilla and Estrada are accused of channeling their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to fake non-governmental organizations of alleged scam mastermind Janet Napoles in exchange for kickbacks amounting to 50% of the project.
Whistleblowers, including principal witness Benhur Luy, have said that the senators’ staff were complicit in signing documents endorsing the fake NGOs, the liquidation reports, and received kickbacks amounting to 1% to 5% of the project. They said the staff would even fetch kickbacks of their principals from Napoles’ office in Ortigas.
READ: Luy: Senators’ aides fetched cash from JLN
READ: ‘Revilla, Enrile, Estrada signed pork liquidation’
While not yet charged, Evangelista was named by whistleblowers and former heads of implementing agencies as having signed documents on Enrile’s behalf endorsing fake Napoles NGOs.
READ: Senators’ staff in PDAF case resigned, on leave
Santos was also named in the affidavits of former Napoles aides as an “agent” of Sen Loren Legarda and Sen Bongbong Marcos.
Cayetano got into a public spat with Reyes over the Senate fund controversy in January, a scandal that also triggered Reyes’ resignation.
Reyes then gave media interviews blasting the supposed “hypocrisy” of Cayetano and other Enrile critics in criticizing the release of additional maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) when they also got similar MOOE in the past. In turn, Cayetano questioned the alleged powerful role of Reyes in the Senate, and her presence in senators’ caucus.
In the pork barrel scam, Reyes maintained her innocence and said she will fight the accusations against her.
READ: Gigi Reyes: Nothing worse than betrayal by Enrile
READ: Enrile on Gigi Reyes: I will not betray my people
Cayetano said inviting the staff to the probe will build on the discoveries and revelations made in past hearings. It will enable senators “to pursue leads provided by the whistleblowers so that the committee may gather more facts and be able to see the truth,” he said.
“We should leave no stone unturned. No special treatment must be accorded to any of the individuals implicated in the scam,” he said.
As majority leader, Cayetano is an ex-officio member of the blue ribbon committee.
Summon Ombudsman, AMLC, LRA
Cayetano also asked Guingona to summon more government agencies to the investigation:
1. Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC)
2. Office of the Ombudsman
3. Department of Justice
4. Bureau of Immigration and Deportation
5. Land Registration Authority
The AMLC is looking into the bank accounts of Napoles and the Court of Appeals issued a freeze order on these.
Cayetano said the agencies will provide information on “what the government is doing to preserve and recover properties of Napoles and others accused that are probably the fruits of the crime of plunder.”
The senator said summoning the agencies will also help the Senate determine if laws are needed in:
a. allowing alleged plunderers to leave the country before an arrest warrant is issued;
b. the ability to preserve properties and recover them once proven that they are fruits of the crime given that in many instances in the past, bank deposits have been withdrawn and accounts closed while other properties have been transferred or disposed of.
News reports have said that some of those charged have already fled the country.
‘What’s purpose of Napoles testimony?’
The blue ribbon committee has yet to schedule its next hearing. Senate President Franklin Drilon said Tuesday that the senators will discuss in caucus whether or not the Senate will issue a subpoena for Napoles.
READ: Consulting again: Drilon to ask senators on Napoles
Guingona and Sen Francis Escudero have pushed for her testimony while other senators question its effectiveness. Her lawyer said the Senate probe is a “carnival” and she will only tell all before the Ombudsman or in court.
In an interview on Tuesday, Marcos said he, too, is not in favor of a subpoena for Napoles because the complaint has already been filed.
“I don’t see the purpose. Maybe there is a purpose that I don’t know about. For me, the wheels of justice have begun to turn. In this regard, we should allow that to turn.” – Rappler.com
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