Yearender: Lawmakers, lawbreakers? Sandigan makes waves

MANILA, Philippines - For the Senate, 2014 will be remembered for the unprecedented arrest and detention of three of its members for plunder.

One of the biggest news of the year was the indictment, arrest and jailing of Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Ramon Revilla Jr. and Jinggoy Estrada for plunder for allegedly stealing public funds through a scheme supposedly masterminded by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.

Napoles was tagged as the brains behind the misuse of the priority development assistance fund allocations of the lawmakers in exchange for rebates after her bogus non-government organizations implemented fictitious projects funded by PDAF.

Enrile, Revilla, Estrada and Napoles were charged in June 2013. Following their indictment, three separate divisions of Sandiganbayan took turns in issuing warrants for their arrest.

The arrest warrants forced Enrile, Revilla and Estrada to surrender and face the music as they languish at the Philippine National Police custodial center and the PNP General Hospital.

Napoles and other individuals accused of conspiring with the senators, including Enrile’s chief of staff lawyer Jessica “Gigi” Reyes and Revilla’s chief of staff Richard Cambe, also turned themselves in and are now in jail.

The Office of the Ombudsman, through its special team of government lawyers, is determined to keep them detained throughout the trial before the Sandiganbayan.

Revilla, Estrada, Napoles and Cambe are pushing for the grant of bail, claiming that the cases against them are weak despite the testimonies of whistle-blowers led by Benhur Luy and other evidence the prosecution has.

Enrile, 90, ran to the Supreme Court to seek relief, hoping that the high court will grant him temporary liberty.

Revilla’s petition for bail was denied but he would be seeking a reconsideration of the Sandiganbayan First Division’s decision denying his motion.

Estrada, his case being handled by the anti-graft court’s Fifth Division, is still hoping for a favorable ruling with ombudsman prosecutors not yet done presenting witnesses and evidence.

Based on the Sandiganbayan’s schedule, trial proper is expected to begin in February and March 2015, about a year before the 2016 national elections.

Revilla and Estrada, in a number of media interviews, maintained their innocence and are claiming political persecution by the Aquino administration and its allies. Enrile, who is under hospital arrest, has kept mum.

Binay, PNP chief probed

The year 2014 also saw Vice President Jejomar Binay being investigated for his supposed involvement in the alleged overpriced construction of Makati City Parking Building II, which was built when he was still the mayor of Makati.

PNP chief Alan Purisima, a friend of President Aquino, was suspended recently for his alleged involvement in an anomalous courier service contract for gun licenses.

In January, the Office of the Ombudsman indicted former Supreme Court chief justice Renato Corona and his wife Cristina for alleged ill-gotten wealth.

Two months later, perjury charges were filed against former Commission on Elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, a controversial figure in the alleged cheating in the 2004 elections during the Arroyo administration.

In April, top officials of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority were dismissed from government service and charged with graft before the Sandiganbayan.

The following month, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales granted immunity to Ruby Tuason, former President Joseph Estrada’s social secretary who has turned state witness against Enrile and Estrada’s son Jinggoy in the PDAF scam.

In August, the Office of the Ombudsman announced that it has found probable cause to charge former governor and now Sen. Manuel “Lito” Lapid for involvement in the fertilizer fund scam.

In September, the Office of the Ombudsman suspended Optical Media Board chairman Ronnie Rickets for neglect of duty arising from the questionable release of seized items after a raid of a firm allegedly engaged in film and software piracy.

The same month, Morales ordered the conduct of preliminary investigation and administrative adjudication against top executives of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) for entering into an anomalous maintenance contract for the Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT-3), a transaction allegedly marred by an extortion attempt exposed by Czech Ambassador Joseph Rychtar.

And in November, the Office of the Ombudsman fired one of its own graft investigators and ordered the fling of charges against him for soliciting money from a complainant.

Such cases and incidents and Sandiganbayan convictions kept the Office of the Ombudsman very busy ridding the government of erring officials and employees in 2014.