Aug 312013
 
President Benigno Aquino III’s openness to receiving high-profile fugitives will only be on a case-to-case basis, a Malacañang spokesperson said on Saturday.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte stressed this after Aquino explained why he agreed to receive suspected pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Napoles.

“Case-to-case basis yan,” Valte said on government-run dzRB radio, when asked if Aquino was open to receiving other high-profile fugitives if they send him surrender feelers.

Valte explained that Aquino had learned from an experience with retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr., who now remains in hiding after Aquino supposedly ignored his surrender feelers.

Aquino had told the Philippine Daily Inquirer he received Napoles at Malacañang on Wednesday night because of the Palparan episode.

“Kwento niya dati, may nagpapadala ng surrender feelers para gusto siya makausap, hindi pumayag. Sabi niya anong nangyari pagkatapos, hinahanap natin siya,” Valte said.

On Wednesday night, Napoles surrendered to Aquino at Malacañang, hours after Aquino announced a P10-million bounty for information leading to her arrest.

Napoles is accused of setting up bogus non-government organizations to siphon Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF) or “pork barrel” funds from lawmakers.

The scandal triggered outrage that led people to call for the abolition of the pork barrel system.

Aquino also called for the abolition of PDAF but wants it replaced with a new mechanism. – VVP, GMA News

Aug 162013
 
NBI taps Coast Guard in hunt for fugitive businesswoman Janet Napoles

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Friday tapped the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in its hunt for businesswoman Janet Napoles, the central figure in a multibillion-peso pork barrel fund mess. NBI director Nonnatus Rojas wrote the Coast Guard for assistance, asking its units to inform the NBI if they spot Napoles or her brother Reynald, radio dzBB’s Carlo Mateo reported on Friday afternoon. Coast Guard spokesman Cmdr. Armand Balilo said instructions have been sent to Coast Guard stations to be on alert for Napoles and her brother, who are subjects of an arrest warrant issued by a Makati court. The arrest warrant for the Napoles siblings stemmed from the alleged illegal detention of who would turn out to be the whistleblower in the pork barrel scam. Earlier on Friday, the Philippine National Police joined in the hunt for Napoles after receiving a copy of the arrest warrant. An updated dzBB report said the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group deployed 19 tracker teams nationwide to go after the siblings. Napoles, the woman at the center of an alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam, has been ordered arrested for the serious illegal detention case involving whistleblower Benhur Luy. “Warrants of arrest (were) issued this afternoon by Br. 150, RTC-Makati vs Janet Lim Napoles and her brother Reynald ‘Jojo’ Lim in the serious illegal detention case,” Justice Secretary Leila de Lima told GMA News Online on Wednesday. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has charged Napoles and Lim for the alleged illegal Read More …