Blue Ribbon Committee not yet ready to summon involved lawmakers in ‘Pork’ Scam

BRC probe heats up as more lawmakers are dragged into the PDAF controversy. Photo from Inquirer.net.

The Blue Ribbon Committee (BRC), led by Chairman Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, has started their investigations on the alleged misuse of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of several lawmakers.

According to the special report released by the Commission on Audit dated 2007 to 2009, 192 legislators were involved in the pork barrel scam. They reportedly gave their PDAF to fake NGOs in order to embezzle funds into their own pockets with the aid of suspected mastermind and businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.

Almost two weeks after the commencement of Blue Ribbon’s probe, more and more legislators are being dragged into the controversy. However, Guingona said the committee won’t be inviting the implicated lawmakers for questioning. Not yet, anyhow.

“The story is still unfolding. This is not yet the time. After the next three hearings, until we see the whole story, then we will make the necessary call,” Guingona said.

The committee, on the other hand, has invited the whistleblowers under the protection of the National Bureau of Investigation to appear at tomorrow’s hearing. The whistleblowers are led by former Napoles employee Benhur Luy and Merlina Suñas.

So far, out of the 192 legislators involved in the said scam, no one has expressed interest of attending the BRC probe held every Thursday. In fact, some of them chose to inhibit themselves from the hearings. Guingona remains amicable and said that the implicated senators and government officials may attend the session any time.

With reports from Marvin Sy, Gil Cabacungan, and Ernie Reyes