A senator and eight former and incumbent members of the House of Representatives might be charged by the Department of Justice (DOJ) before the Office of the Ombudsman in its 3rd batch of cases in connection to the pork barrel scam, a reliable source told GMA News.
The source said the DOJ is finalizing the drafts of the complaints to be submitted to the Ombudsman soon.
Malversation of public funds might be the charge to be filed against the nine.
The next batch of possible respondents, the source said, allegedly also funnelled their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), commonly known as pork barrel fund, to the bogus non-government organizations (NGOs) of businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.
The source also said the cases will be backed by documents of the whistleblowers and audit reports of the Commission on Audit from 2007 to 2009.
The senator identified by the source is Gringgo Honasan, who allegedly allocated P15 million of his PDAF to Napoles’ NGO, Agri and Economic Program for Farmers Foundation, Inc.(AEPFFI).
The eight congressmen are:
- Incumbent Abono party-list Rep. Conrado Estrella III, who allegedly allocated P82 million of his PDAF to Napoles’ Countrywide Agri and Rural Economic Development Foundation, Inc. (CARED); Masaganang Ani Para sa Magsasaka Foundation, Inc. (MAMFI); Philippine Agri and Social Economic Development Foundation, Inc. (PASEDF); People’s Organization for Progress and Development Foundation, Inc. (POPDF); and Social Development Program for Farmers Foundation, Inc. (SDPFFI);
- Former Abono party-list Rep. Robert Raymundo Estrella, who allegedly allocated P56 million of his PDAF to POPDF and SDPFFI;
- Incumbent La Union governor and former La Union Rep. Manuel Ortega who allegedly allocated P30 million of his PDAF to CARED;
- Incumbent La Union Rep. Victor Ortega who allegedly allocated P18 million of his PDAF to POPDF and SDPFFI.;
- Former Zamboanga Del Sur Rep. Isidro Real Jr. who allegedly allocated P5 million of his PDAF to Philippine Social Development Foundation Inc. (PSDFI);
- Incumbent Cagayan De Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez who allegedly allocated P3.5 million also to PSDFI;
- Incumbent Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) secretary general and former Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC) party-list Rep. Joel Villanueva who allegedly allocated P4.3 million of his PDAF to MAMFI; and
- Incumbent Manila Rep. Amado Bagatsing who allegedly allocated P1 million of his PDAF to MAMFI.
The source said suspended Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) chairman Zenaida Ducut may also be included as respondent in the 3rd batch of cases to be filed by DOJ as she allegedly acted as agent of Bagatsing and Manuel Ortega. Ducut were among the 27 people charged with malversation by the DOJ in its second batch of complaints in connection to the pork scam filed to the Ombudsman in November 2013.
Honasan had earlier denied the allegations saying that he was not the one who chose where his PDAF was allocated from 2007 to 2009.
Bagatsing, in a press statement issued last month, also denied the allegations, claiming that he was not yet a member of the House when his supposed transactions with the implementing agency Technology Resource Center (TRC) allegedly happened.
Villanueva meanwhile said he is ready to cooperate with the investigation.
“I’m ready to shed light, kung ano man yung pwede ko maitulong para matapos ito. And at the same time, I’m very confident that I will be cleared,” Villanueva said.
GMA News is still trying to get the reactions of the other lawmakers named by the source as of posting time.
Justice Secretary Leila De Lima said the affidavit submitted by Napoles on Monday would greatly help in strengthening the cases.
“Marami din ang nagsasabi o nagcri-criticize na, ‘O bakit parang namimili kayo? Bakit hindi niyo pa kinakasuhan yung iba?’ E may dahilan po yan,makakatulong siguro ang mga siniwalat ni Mrs. Napoles lalo na kung ma-validate na po namin,” De Lima said in an interview aired on GMA News’ “24 Oras” Wednesday evening.
