Abad, Alcala willing to face ‘pork’ probe

MANILA, Philippines - Secretaries Florencio Abad of the Department of Budget and Management and Proceso Alcala of the Department of Agriculture are more than willing to submit themselves in the investigation being conducted by the Department of Justice.

Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the two Cabinet members have nothing to hide and are willing to defend themselves on allegations of their alleged involvement in the P10-billion pork barrel fund scam.

“They are prepared to face the accusations against them. They are not hiding and they will continue to serve the government,” Coloma said over dzRB.

As far as Malacañang is concerned, there has to be “direct and concrete information” that would be established and used as evidence that the two officials were involved in the alleged scheme to embezzle public funds.

“For so many years they worked hard to establish their good reputation before the community and it would be unfair to accuse them without any proof but from loose talk and speculation,” Coloma said.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda added Malacañang is supporting the DOJ in the move to determine the involvement of Abad and Alcala in the pork barrel scam.

“The investigation process, evaluation process of DOJ under the leadership of Secretary Leila de Lima is colorblind so we support the process,” Lacierda said.

He said the evaluation of affidavits submitted by the pork scam whistle-blowers took time because the statements have to be supported with documentary evidence.

On Thursday, De Lima said there is no formal investigation yet on Abad and Alcala since they are verifying the tell-all affidavit of alleged pork barrel fund scam operator Janet Lim-Napoles that she submitted to the DOJ and the Senate.

De Lima stressed she has no problem conducting a probe on the two cabinet officials, noting though that both are political allies of the President.

“As to whether or not we’re formally investigating them, that would be premature in the sense that we are still determining if they are in the category that there is enough evidence to move it forward to the ombudsman,” she said.

Three of Aquino’s cabinet members have been tagged in the pork scam, one of the largest corruption issues that hit the government in recent years.  

Abad, a former representative of Batanes, was dragged in the issue after Napoles had claimed that he was the one who taught her how to deal with the government.

Napoles said she had learned from Abad that NGOs are needed to transact with state agencies.

Abad was also accused of approving a P10-million project involving the Batanes Electric Cooperative. Abad has denied Napoles’ claim and insisted that he has never dealt with the businesswoman.

Meanwhile, Alcala – a former congressman of Quezon province and a colleague of Aquino when he was still Tarlac congressman – was accused of transacting with the bogus non-government organizations formed by Napoles.

Alcala has denied the allegations and has challenged his accusers to show proof that he benefited from the fund scam.

On the other hand, a group against corruption in government has slammed the DOJ for the perceived delay in the prosecution of allies of President Aquino in the pork barrel fund anomaly.

The group led by lawyer Argee Guevarra was behind the Independence Day protest against the supposed “selective” justice in the plunder cases related to the pork barrel fund scam.

Guevarra cited the cases of Abad and Alcala, who were both implicated in the anomaly by Napoles.

Guevarra pointed out that Napoles’ scam would have not succeeded for over a decade without the participation of government officials in various agencies.

“For the pork barrel scam to be carried out, it required the direct and indispensable participation and cooperation of the scam operator, the corrupt legislator, the DBM and the implementing government agency which is usually the DA,” he said.

Guevarra also questioned why the DOJ has not filed any charges before the ombudsman against implicated administration allies that included Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) chief Joel Villanueva.

“How come the Department of Justice can only run after opposition solons and give the kid-glove treatment on administration legislators?” Guevarra said.

Guevarra believes Malacañang was behind the delay, adding that De Lima – no matter how independent she claims to be – remains an appointee of President Aquino.

“The Palace is stricken with the hoof and mouth disease in prosecuting personalities from the pigsty of the pork barrel scam. It targets only the opposition and stampedes the DOJ in filing cases against its stalwarts while turning a blind eye on the culpability of administration allies in the crime as it delays prosecution of concerned Liberal Party legislators,” Guevarra said.

Reports had it that Villanueva is among those to face graft charges in the third batch of pork barrel fund misuse cases already prepared by the National Bureau of Investigation.

Guevarra noted De Lima decided to defer the filing of the new charges for at least three times – the latest she attributed to an NBI finding that Villanueva’s signatures in documents gathered and being used as evidence were forged.

De Lima earlier explained the delay in filing of the third batch by saying they wanted to make sure the evidence would suffice to stand test of trial where guilt beyond reasonable doubt needs to be established.

This is, however, not the purpose of a fact-finding probe that the NBI is conducting. She herself stressed in the cases filed against Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr. that what is needed in preliminary investigation is just finding of probable cause. – With Edu Punay