For the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), Justice Secretary Leila de Lima’s sudden interest in alleged overpricing in the construction of the Makati City Hall Building II that a Senate panel is already investigating shows partisanship in government.
“No one is above dilaw (yellow),” UNA interim president and Navotas Rep. Tobias “Toby” Tiangco said on Sunday, referring to the campaign color of the administration Liberal Party.
He said De Lima’s credibility as Justice secretary has eroded after she expressed openness to participate in the ongoing Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee inquiry into the Makati building despite the abundance of other controversies that need to be investigated.
Tiangco said De Lima appears to be practicing a “double standard of justice” by sitting on investigations regarding the P900-million Malampaya Fund Scam, P10-billion pork barrel controversy and the alleged extortion attempt on a Czech firm for a Metro Rail Transit (MRT)-3 train contract.
“We are aware that members of the Liberal Party who were recipients of the Malampaya Fund, PDAF and even DAP, are being shielded from the investigation. This only goes to show that De Lima is not keen in sending to jail allies of the President,” he said in a statement.
De Lima said Thursday that the Department of Justice (DOJ) could conduct a separate probe on the Makati City Hall Building II as more details emerge from the Senate inquiry. She noted, however, that there is no basis to start a preliminary investigation yet.
NBI, DOJ in ‘witch hunt’
Tiangco said De Lima’s sudden interest in the Makati building controversy proves the “MAD” (Mar-Abad-Drilon) faction of the Liberal Party composed of Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad and Senate President Franklin Drilon, and their allies in Malacañang are behind the efforts to link Vice President Jejomar Binay to corruption scandals.
Binay and his family have been accused of benefiting from the alleged overpriced construction of the Makati building.
“Sec. De Lima, like the three senator-inquisitors, have pre-judged the matter. The NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) will not contradict their boss or issue findings that will embarrass her. The NBI and the DOJ are now parties to the witch hunt,” he said.
Tiangco claimed the 97 mayors who allegedly benefited from the Malampaya Fund scam pledged last May to support De Lima should she run for a higher office in 2016. At present, none of the 97 local executives has been investigated by the DOJ or NBI, he noted.
Asked for the names of the mayors, Tiangco replied: “[They’re] mostly [from] LP.”
According to the opposition stalwart, further proof of De Lima’s selective application of justice is the delay in filing of the third batch of cases against against politicians implicated in the pork barrel scam allegedly orchestrated by Napoles.
De Lima was quoted in news reports as saying last June that the cases will be filed against several lawmakers and other individuals within the same month.
Invalid Senate subpoena
UNA interim secretary general JV Bautista, meanwhile, assailed De Lima’s directive to the NBI to search for the personalities whom the Senate is having a hard time serving subpoenas, saying it is “legally questionable” as it violates the Constitutional principle of separation of powers.
“Remember that the subpoena issuing power of the Senate, like its power to cite in contempt, is merely implied from its power to legislate. The Senate can only enforce its subpoena process through its sergeant-at-arms, who is also the officer authorized to serve an order of arrest after a contempt citation,” he said.
Bautista, a lawyer, said a Senate subpoena for any of the personalities implicated by whistleblower and former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado in the alleged overpricing of the Makati building will be rendered invalid if it will be served by the NBI. The person to whom the subpoena is served will also have no obligation to comply under this scenario, he added.
“If Mr. (Gerry) Limlingan, for example, is served a subpoena by the NBI, it is an invalid service, being an undue interference by the executive branch of a purely legislative exercise,” Bautista said.
Gerry Limlingan had been accused by Mercado of being a bagman for Vice President Jejomar Binay when the latter was still Makati City mayor.
He has yet to show up at the Blue Ribbon subcommittee hearing despite repeated invitations and summonses from the Senate.
Bautista warned disciplinary actions might be initiated against De Lima if she continues insist in the NBI’s participation in the probe.
“The DOJ has no place in this Senate investigation. Either De Lima stops her acts of harassment using the NBI, or court remedies, as well as disciplinary actions against her would now be called for,” he said. — Xianne Arcangel/JDS, GMA News
