Cayetano asks Senate to subpoena all linked to PDAF scam for cross-examination

Senate Majority Floor Leader Alan Peter Cayetano (in red) with President Noynoy Aquino. FILE PHOTO

MANILA — Senate Majority Floor Leader Alan Peter Cayetano on Wednesday urged the Senate blue ribbon committee to modify the rules to allow the senators linked to the pork barrel scam to be cross-examined in the Senate inquiry.

Cayetano made the request after Senate blue ribbon committee chairman Teofisto Guingona III released to the media the Janet Lim Napoles list of 98 individuals including Cayetano and 11 other incumbent and former senators.

”I’m willing to face any and all of my accusers. Those who wish to destroy my name should do so face to face and provide details of their accusations. I will answer any and all of their questions, and I will answer them before the Filipino families whom I have sworn to serve,” Cayetano said in his letter to Guingona.

Cayetano also urged Guingona to immediately reopen the Senate inquiry and “require the presence of everyone involved and subpoena all pertinent documents and materials.”

Cayetano said the Senate should subpoena Napoles and her husband Jaime who provided the Napoles list to former senator and now presidential adviser on the rehabilitation Panfilo Lacson.

Cayetano also wanted to subpoena, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, and main whistleblower Benhur Luy and other whistleblowers and all interested parties.

”Let us all face the people and allow them to judge for themselves. Filipino families deserve the truth, they deserve justice, and we must do everything we can to give this justice to them,” he said.

”It is on behalf of Filipino families that I ask the blue ribbon to take the constructive steps necessary to end the speculation and rumor-mongering, and to serve justice on the wrongdoers,” Cayetano added.

Cayetano believed there are efforts to muddle the real issue by coming out with different version of Napoles list supplied to Lacson, De Lima, Luy and Sandra Cam of the Whistleblowers’ Association of the Philippines (WAP)

”The real issue is simple: Napoles and her cohorts stole billions from Filipino families. We must not allow ourselves to be carried away by these obvious distractions and lose our focus on this simple issue,” Cayetano said.

Guingona said he will consider Cayetano’s request to modify the Senate blue ribbon rules in a caucus.

”We will consider that (request) in a caucus,” Guingona said.

Guingona said the Senate blue ribbon panel is still waiting for De Lima to submit her own Napoles list which he also intends to release to the media.

Meanwhile, neophyte Cynthia Villar denied allegation that she transacted with bogus non-government organizations (NGOs) of Napoles, the alleged mastermind of the pork barrel scam.

”It is unfortunate that my name was included in the so-called list of senators and congressmen who allegedly transacted with Napoles’ bogus NGOs. As I have said in the past, I do not know Janet Lim-Napoles and I did not have any transaction with her or her NGOs,” Villar said.

Villar was reportedly included on the Benhur Luy list while her husband, former senator Manny Villar, was among the 12 senators mentioned at the Napoles list given to Lacson.

”This political persecution masquerading as a search for truth is reminiscent of what we experienced during the 2010 presidential elections. My husband, Manny Villar, and I endured malicious allegations that up to now remain unproven. It pains me to see that some quarters resort to dirty tactics to pursue political ends,” Villar said.

”I urge the people to be more discerning of these attempts to misinform and besmirch a good person’s reputation. As a senator, I am committed to deliver the promises I made to the Filipino people to provide livelihood and help lift our poor people from poverty,” she added.

Aside from Manny Villar and Cayetano, other incumbent and former senators listed on Napoles list are senators Chiz Escudero, Gringo Honasan, Alan Peter Cayetano, Koko Pimentel, Loren Legarda, Vicente Sotto, Robert Barbers (former), JV Ejercito (as former congressman) and three senators – Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr., who were already charged with plunder in the Ombudsman.

Napoles’ husband Jaime provided Lacson with the unsigned affidavit and list of 98 individuals linked to pork barrel scam in a bid to apply as state witness.

Escudero supports the immediate reopening of the Senate inquiry and subpoena all of the list of Napoles and Benhur Luy and the lists’ sources.

”Let them explain and compare their lists,” Escudero said.

Enrile, Estrada and Revilla never attended all the nine Senate hearings on the pork barrel scam that allegedly siphoned P10 billion of priority development assistance fund (PDAF) through fake NGOS of Napoles.

Guingona recently released to the media an unsigned committee report recommending the filing of plunder charges against Enrile, Estrada and Revilla and other individuals linked to the scam.

According to the office of Guingona, a total of 13 senators have already signed the committee report.