The Office of the Ombudsman (OBM) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) should take the initiative to investigate Janet Lim-Napoles’s claims that she funded Senator Franklin Drilon’s campaign in 2010 with at least P5 million, Malacañang said.
“The Constitution in providing for accountability of public officers is the legal basis for the relevant government agency to conduct an investigation. I would hope that the Ombudsman on its own will conduct its probe and I think the DOJ also on its own should conduct its own probe, based on the statement,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said on Tuesday.
Napoles said she personally handed the P5 million to Drilon in a hotel last 2010, an incident that the latter denied.
Roque said that Napoles’s claims should be looked into, considering that she is the mastermind of the pork barrel scam, and can provide evidence to support her allegations.
“Obviously Janet Lim-Napoles is the central figure in this scam, let her speak, and I’m sure in addition to what she has to say, she would have physical evidence to back up whatever it is that she alleges,” he said.
Roque, in an interview with state-owned Radyo Pilipinas on Monday, said that other members of the Liberal Party dragged by Napoles in the scam should also be probed.
(DAILY NEWS ROUND UP FOR 1/23/18)