MANILA, Philippines – The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is set file before the Office of the Ombudsman plunder complaints against those accused in the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam.
Senators Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr, Jinggoy Estrada, and Juan Ponce Enrile are among the lawmakers who will be charged with plunder, based on the copy of affidavits shown to the media by the NBI on Monday.
The NBI said businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles will be charged as the mastermind of the the alleged scam, which allegedly siphoned billions of pesos in pork barrel funds, converting as much as 60 percent of public funds into kickbacks allegedly pocketed by lawmakers.
Meanwhile, Sen. Vicente Sotto announced told media on Monday that Enrile won't be able to attend Senate sessions as the minority leader was rushed to the hospital Saturday morning due to high blood pressure.
In a text message Sunday, Levito Baligod, counsel for the whistleblowers in the pork barrel fund scam, told InterAksyon.com that a Mass for the whistleblowers would be held first at the NBI compound in Manila at 10:30 p.m. before the 1 p.m. filing of the complaint backed up by a "truckload" of evidence at the Office of the Ombudsman in Quezon City.
In a statement issued Monday, the Office of the Ombudsman said the NBI "is filing today...its first formal complaint in connection with the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF)."
The statement neither includes the names of those being accused in the alleged scam nor the merits of the case.
The Office said it "regrets that copies of the complaint and other case records could not be provided at this time and requests for interview regarding the merits of the case could not be likewise granted."
"It finds it prudent not to discuss the merits of the case at this stage, to avoid any appearance of partiality or pre-judgement and in keeping with the confidentiality of proceedings..." it added.
The Office further said that, "Statements or information that may be prematurely diclosed could unduly prejudice the proceedngs in so far as alerting the custodians of vital documents and undermining the security of possible witnesses."
The details of the results of the proceedings "shall be released once a final resolution is issued, at which time a copy of the resolution may be secured," the Office said.
It added that, "Developments about the case shall, from time to time, be released to the public through the media."
On Sunday, Department of Justice Secretary Leila De Lima visited the NBI where whistleblowers led by former Napoles aide Benhur Luy and Baligod had been helping authorities sift through documents used for the complaint to be filed.
The first of three batches of documents from the whistleblowers alleges that at least five legislators pocketed anywhere from P54 million to P200 million through a scheme involving fake projects implemented by the NGOs.
Sources said the documents that go with the complaints had reached a total of 750,000 pages. The 17 boxes containing these will be transported inside two closed vans under heavy police escort from the NBI headquarters on Taft Avenue to the Office of the Ombudsman.
On Friday, the Citizens Crime Watch Group (CWG) filed plunder charges at the Office of the Ombudsman against Napoles, five incumbent senators and 23 former and incumbent congressmen.
Lawyer Jose Malvar and Carlo Battala of the CWG led the filing of the charges. Their move came just a day after the main whistle blower, Benhur Luy, narrated before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee how lawmakers--either by their direct participation or through their chiefs of staff or trusted aides--took kickbacks from the Napoles group in exchange for allowing her to "buy" their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).
The senator-respondents are Minority Leader Juan Ponce-Enrile, Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., Jinggoy Estrada, and Gringo Honasan.
Also included in the charge sheet are the 23 congressmen--past and incumbent--who included former Muntinlupa City representative and now Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon; and Technical and Educational Skills Development Authority Director General Joel Villanueva, a former party-list representative of the Citizens' Battle Against Corruption.
CWG claimed the lawmakers connived with Napoles to steal taxpayers’ money by allowing diversion of their allocations under PDAF to a network of fake non-government organizations allegedly created by Napoles.
Also on Friday, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales said that despite the keen public interest in the case, her office would not rush recklessly and will observe due process in handling the complaint before deciding whether to elevate this to the antigraft court.
Her office, she said, would not act "simply to satisfy public expectations" in a case because its sworn duty is to uphold the law at all times.
