Napoles questioned after whistleblowers Print Email: Published : Monday, September 09, 2013 00:00 Article Views : 169 Written by : Bernadette E. Tamayo THE Senate Blue Ribbon Committee will summon detained businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles to its investigation into the Php10-billion pork barrel fund scam only after all the whistleblowers are finished with their testimonies. “Unahin muna natin whistleblowers sapagkat sila ang makakapagasabi kung saan pumunta ang pera. Imporante na may affidavit na ‘yung mga whistleblowers bago natin tawagin,” Sen.Teofisto Guingona III, Senate Blue Ribbon panel chairman, said when asked in a radio interview when he planned to call alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Napoles. Asked why it is important for the whistleblowers to submit an affidavit before the panel, Guingona said: “Doon ka magbabase sa kuwento nila kung papaano nangyari (ang anomalya sa PDAF). Nandoon ang kuwento nila. Nakasulat na (dapat) para walang makalimutan, nandoon na lahat. “Ano ba ang nangyari? Describe the flow of funds. Sino ang mga may kagagawan? Sino ang mananagot? Ito ang mga questions na sinasagot ng SBRC (blue ribbon panel). May process tayo na sinusundan. Step by step tayo,” he said. “Anway, I think it’s just around the corner. Any point in time I expect the affidavits to be completed. Iyung kay Napoles dapat meron din. Pero uunahin muna natin ang whistleblowers. Pero tatawagin din natin si Janet Napoles.” However, it is unlikely for the Blue Ribbon Committee to summon the persons running the alleged bogus non-governmental organizations (NGOs) linked to the PDAF scam. “Hindi mo puwedeng tawagin ang NGO na peke dahil peke nga sila. So,ang mag-te testify diyan auditors na nag-audit at pumunta sa office ng NGOs,” he said. Guingona is certain that the different bills pending in the Senate seeking the abolition of PDAF will be approved. “I can only speak for the Senate. Sa Senado, mukhang klaro na (maipapasa) because we have 16 out of 24 senators who said we should abolish na the pork barrel. Parang doon din sa FoI (Freedom of Information) bill pumasa kaagad sa Senado. Dito rin sa pork mukhang klaro din sa Senado matatanggal na rin ang pork barrel (system).” “Sangayon ako na tanggalin ang sistema na ‘yan. Walang ending ang debate na ‘yan. You can always cite maraming scholarship, maraming natutulungan sa hospital (ang PDAF). And then on the other side, you can always cite corruption, nabubulsa ang pera. Walang tigil ‘yan. At the end of the day kailangan magdecide ka. Ako suma tutal, nagdecide na ako. I think the evil outweighs the good. Therefore let’s abolish the pork barrel fund.”
Posted on: Mon, 09 Sep 2013 08:23:32 +0000