'Pork probe to be impartial despite involvement of Aquino allies'

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang assured the public that the probe on another pork barrel scandal involving non-government organizations (NGOs) will be impartial even if the lawmakers to be investigated include allies of President Benigno S. Aquino III.

“We can, at this point, reiterate that the investigations, as borne out by the results of the first two, are impartial and based solely on evidence. So we can expect the third set to also be like that,” Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said in an interview on Saturday.

Valte said she has not gotten information about the probe, which is being conducted by the Inter-Agency Anti-Graft Coordinating Council.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima revealed last Friday that the government is looking into another pork barrel scam involving NGOs connected to a businessman and some lawmakers.

Officials are verifying claims that the NGOs linked to businessman Godofredo Roque had amassed pork barrel funds, then officially known as priority development assistance fund.

In its letter-request for investigation, labor group Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino said Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. had signed documents naming the NGOs of Roque as beneficiaries under his special allocation release order.

Tupas is an ally of the Aquino administration and even served as lead prosecutor during the impeachment trial of former Chief Justice Renato Corona.

BMP claimed Tupas had given P17.49 million worth of pork barrel funds to the National Agribusiness Corp. (NABCOR) and the National Livelihood Development Corp. (NLDC).

The funds were allegedly channeled to Kabuhayan at Kalusugan Alay sa Masa Foundation Inc. (KKAMFI), an NGO supposedly endorsed by Tupas to the NABCOR and NLDC and believed to be owned by Roque.

BMP also cited a Commission on Audit (COA) report stating that former Sen. Manuel Villar and his wife former Las Pinas representative and now Sen. Cynthia Villar have released P151-million to soft projects that are not compliant with existing laws.

The labor group claimed that the local government of Las Pinas has been awarding contracts to bidders with deficient documents since 2009.

“Even if these politicians are allies of the President, your office should not tolerate their questionable acts. We are hoping that your agency will conduct a thorough investigation on the matter and that they would be made answerable before the court the soonest possible time,” BMP said.

The Justice department clarified that the allegations against Roque would be treated separately from that of businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, who was tagged in the diversion of billions of pork funds to ghost projects.

The NBI has filed two batches of corruption charges against Napoles and several lawmakers before the Ombudsman.