Nakatakdang magsampa ng criminal complaints sa Department of Justice (DoJ) ang mga abogado ng umano’y utak ng pork barrel scam na si Janet Lim Napoles laban kina dating Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad at Senators Franklin Drilon, Antonio Trillanes IV at Leila de Lima kaugnay ng pagkakasangkot sa Priority Development Fund (PDAF) scheme.
Ayon kay DoJ Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, kinumpirma ni Atty. Stephen David na dawit ang apat sa nabanggit na reklamo.
“This is a new evaluation by the lawyer and by Janet Napoles on who are involved in this PDAF scam,” sinabi kahapon ni Aguirre.
“If the DoJ will find probable cause then we will forward it to the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman has the primary jurisdiction of her cases involving government officials,” ayon kay Aguirre.
Empleyadong lasing, patay matapos sapakin ng ginising na katrabaho
Aniya, ginamit umano ng mga ito ang non-government organizations (NGO) ni Napoles para sa kanilang PDAF at makakuha ng mga kickback.
Bukod sa apat, sinabi ng Secretary na posibleng may iba pang senador na kasama sa reklamo.
“Hindi ko pa alam kung sino ang i-include nila. It’s the call of Janet kung sinu-sino,” aniya.
TRILLANES AT DRILON, UMILING
Kapwa itinanggi nina Trillanes at Drilon ang akusasyon sa kanila.
Ayon kay Trillanes, ni minsan ay hindi nabanggit ang kanyang pangalan sa mga pagdinig noong 2013 kaya nakapagtataka na ngayon ay kasama na siya.
Aniya, malinaw na ito ay “harassment” ng administrasyon sa mga opposition members na ayaw sa palakad ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte.
“I categorically deny any involvement in any irregularity regarding PDAF, DAP or any government funds, for that matter, Aguirre has been using his office to persecute and harass members of the opposition by fabricating testimonies from dubious convicts or detainees such as the Bilibid drug lords, Kerwin Espinosa and now Napoles,” ani Trillanes.
Tinawag naman ito ni Drilon na “black propaganda at revenge.”
“I have said this many times before and I will say it again: I vehemently deny any insinuation by the Secretary of Justice that I was involved in any wrongdoing regarding the Priority Development Assistance Fund. Any allegation that I misused public funds or that I coursed it through Napoles or any bogus non-government organization at any point is a blatant lie,” ani Drilon. (JEFFREY G. DAMICOG at LEONEL ABASOLA)
