Holy Week in prison for Enrile, Estrada, Revilla?

The PDAF kings

The PDAF kings

Now that the Ombudsman has approved the resolution to file plunder charges against those involved in the malversation of the Priority Development Assistance Fund, it looks like Senators Juan Ponce-Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla would be observing their Holy Week in jail.

It is reported that Revilla and his family are in Holy Land to seek for “divine intervention.” Let’s see if his wish would be granted.

The accused will be given time to submit a motion for reconsideration, after which the Ombudsman will file the Information with the Sandiganbayan. The graft court will determine whether there’s a basis for the case to proceed.

The Sandiganbayan has 10 days after receipt of the Information to issue a warrant of arrest.

In a briefing, Ombudsman Spokesperson Asryman Rafanan they “found probable cause to indict Juan Ponce Enrile, Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., Jinggoy Estrada, as well as Janet Lim Napoles, and a number of government employees and non-government organizations offices with plunder punishable under RA 7080 as amended and violation of section 3E of Republic Act 3019 or the anti-graft and corrupt practices act in connection to the pork scam.”

On the charges for Plunder, Rafanan said “the Joint Resolutions concluded that the three Senators took undue advantage of their official position to illegally divert , in connivance with certain respondents, their respective PDAF allocations to the Napoles NGOs, in exchange for kickbacks/commission amounting to more than P172 million ,P242million ndP183 million in the case of Senators Enrile, Revilla and Estrada, respectively, with the PDAF funded projects turning out to be “ghost” projects, under a modus operandi of a combination and series of overt criminal acts repeatedly taking place over a number of years.”

The crime of Plunder under RA 7080 is punishable by reclusion perpetua (to death), and forfeiture of the ill-gotten wealth in favor of the government.

In the Ombudsman resolutions, it showed that Revilla got the largest kickback in the amount of P224, 512,00 out of the P517,000,000 PDAF that was released to him.

Estrada was the second topnotcher with P183,793,750 kickbacks from his P480,000,650 pork barrel.

Ombudsman’s investigations showed that P172, 834,500 out of the P345, 000,000 PDAF released to Enrile went to kickbacks and commissions.

On the charges for violations of Section 3(e) of R.A. 3019, the Joint Resolutions uniformly found that the sets of respondents conspired in causing undue injury to the government in the amounts of P345 million, P517 million and P278 million from the PDAF of Senators Enrile, Revilla and Estrada, respectively, by receiving, in evident bad faith, kickbacks or portions of the diverted amount, and by being manifestly partial in the selection of the Napoles NGOs and the conduit Implementing Agencies (IAs), which resulted in unwarranted benefit, preference or advantage to the Napoles NGOs which were chosen without the benefit of public bidding and which supposed turned out to be “ghost” projects.

Estrada and Revilla issued statements denying the accusations adding that they were not surprised by the Ombudsman’s decision. Enrile, as of presstime, has not issued a reaction.

Enrile’s chief of staff of Enrile, Gigi Reyes, Estrada’s Pauline Labayen, and Revilla’s Richard Cambe were included among the respondents.

Included also are Ruby Tuason, former social secretary of President Estrada who acted as broker in the Malampaya and PDAF scams and Dennis Cunanan, director-general (on leave) of the Technology Resource Center , which was used as conduit for the release of PDAF to ghost non=government organizations and projects.
Tuason and Cunanan have applied to be state witnesses.

The number of the respondents shows how extensive the scam’s network. The cases against the three senators and their cohorts in the PDAF scam demonstrate that the law does not distinguish the offenders social and political status.

These are just the first batch of charges. More to come.

Liars all

He is not the epitome of intelligence and good public service but his story about the breakfast meeting is revealing of  Malacañang's methods under Aquino.

He is not the epitome of intelligence and good public service but his story about the breakfast meeting is revealing of Malacañang’s methods under Aquino.

Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr., one of the three senators charged with plunder before the Ombudsman in connection with alleged anomalous use of Priority Development Assistance Fund, related Monday an incident that took place in December 2012, a few days before the conclusion of the impeachment of ousted Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Revilla said Roxas, who was then secretary of Transportation and Communication, invited him to a morning meeting at his residence in Cubao. From there, they went to Malacañang’s Bahay Pangarap, Aquino’s residence, with Roxas driving the SUV and he was seated at the back seat.

Revilla said Roxas had the license plate of the SUV removed.

At Bahay Pangarap, they were joined first by and Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad and later by President Aquino. They were served breakfast and he remembered everything on the table: pan de sal, kesong puti, egg, ham, dried beef, friend rice and fruits. The main fare was Corona.

There was no hiding his  obsession against Corona.

There was no hiding his obsession against Corona.

Revilla said the President appealed to him: “Parang awa mo na, pare, balato mo sakin ito. Kelangan ko siyang ma-impeach.”

Abad, he said, chimed in: “Let’s help each other, Senator.”

He said he replied: “Mr. President, I will do what is right. I believe that we should fight for what is right, and I will do what is right for the country.”

Revilla was one of the 20 senators who voted “Guilty” to the charge of betrayal of public trust against Corona.
Aquino and Roxas both confirmed the meeting with Revilla but they had different versions of what took place in that meeting.

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma said the President denied having uttered the words, “balato mo sa akin ito…”

Coloma said, “The President met with Senator Revilla “to verify persistent reports that senators were being pressured by interest groups to influence the outcome of the [Corona] impeachment trial, and he asked the senator to decide the case on the basis of its merits.”

Boy Pick-up

Boy Pick-up

Roxas also issued a statement: “Senator Bong and I used to be in the Senate together. So, when he said he had some issues to discuss with the President, which included the cityhood of Bacoor and his being head of the Lakas Party, I found a way to set up their meeting.

“At the time, the President was not in Malacañan and was at Bahay Pangarap. So as not to disrupt the detail of the PSG and so Senator Bong won’t be inconvenienced, I personally drove him to Bahay Pangarap.

“He lied when he said that I removed my license plate before we went to Bahay Pangarap. I really don’t use an official plate. It’s not attached to my vehicle. I use a regular plate issued by the LTO. The people who have known me for a long time know that I have never used the 8 plate when I was congressman, the 7 plate when I was Senator, or the 6 plate as Cabinet Secretary. I have never attached such plates to my car.”

They are all lying.

Some of the details of each statement are true, some are false. Halftruths are lies.

Aquino was never shy about his desire to remove Corona as part of his reform agenda. Corona’s ouster was a major achievement for him.

Everybody knows they moved heaven and earth to get rid of Corona and the public applauded him for that. To say that Aquino did not meddle in the impeachment of Corona is a big lie.

For Roxas to say that the meeting was not related to the Corona impeachment is a lie.

Revilla is also lying when he said that his vote was about “doing what is right for the country.” He got his reward for his Corona vote for at least P50 million in the form of the Disbursement Acceleration Program. How did he spend that huge sum of money plus his other PDAF?

Don’t BS us about “doing right for the country.” You are lining your pockets with our money. That’s not right for the country.

You are all liars.

Sobrang amazing ang kuwento ni Kap

Sponsors do not want to be seen supporting someone acccused of plunder

Sponsors do not want to be seen supporting someone acccused of plunder

Malakas ang ugong na baka mawala sa ere ang Kap’s Amazing stories, ang show ni Sen. Bong Revilla sa GMA7. Nagkakakansela na raw ang advertisers ng show at hindi maganda para sa kanila na ma-identify sa isang opisyal ng pamahalaan na akusado sa krimeng pandarambong.

Ang buhay talaga. When it rains, it pours. Kapag umulan, talagang buhos.

Noong isang linggo, kasama sa sinampahan si Revilla ng plunder o pandarambong. Ayun sa dokumento na hawak ng National Bureau of Investigation, si Revilla ang may pinakamalaking nabulsa mula sa pera ng PDAF (Priority Development Assistance Fund) sa pamamagitan ng operasyun na kasabwat si Janet Lim Napoles.

Ayun sa dokumento ng NBI, P224,512,500 ang pera na naman sa mhihirap na Pilipino ang napunta kay Revilla. (Ang kay Sen. Jinggoy Estrada ay P183,793,750 at kay Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile ay P172,834,500.)

Close friends

Close friends

Maiyak-iyak si Revilla noong Lunes at sinabi niyang “Ang hiling ko sa sambayanan, huwag kaming husgahan. Ipapaliwanag namin ito hanggang sa kahuli-hulihang detalye.”

Nakadetalye ang kuwento ni Ben Hur Luy, ang dating kanang kamay ni Napoles, tungkol sa mga perang binibigay nila kay Revilla at sa ibang mambabatas at kanilang mga tauhan na sangkot dito sa pork barrel scam.

Ang baho ng pangalan ng lahat na sangkot sa pork barrel scam kaya maintindihan kung magkaka-kansela ang mga advertisers ng Kap’s Amazing stories.

Sabi naman ni Revilla kumuha na daw siya ng handwriting expert para daw suriin ang mga dokumento sa PDAF na may pirma niya.

Sayang itong si Revilla na hindi pinahalagahan ang tiwala na binigay sa kanya ng mamamayan. Kahit wala naman talagang pinakitang galing sa kanyang panunungkulan sa Senado, binu-boto pa rin siya ng tao. Sa halip na alagaan ang pagtitiwala ng taumbayan, ginawang gatasan ang pamahalaan. Ninakawan pa ang mamamayan.

Really close friends

Really close friends

May ambisyon pa siyang tumakbo bilang maging bise president kung hindi man presidente sa 2016. Sa pagbulgar ng kanilang pangungurakot ng pork barrel, pwede na magpa-alam si Revilla sa kanyang ambisyun na titira sa Malacanang o kahit na mago-opisina sa Coconut Palace.

Ang problema niya ngayon, ay kapag nagdesisyun ang Ombudsman na may basehan ang akusasyun at magsasampa na ng kaso sa Sandiganbayan, mai-isyu ng warrant of arrest. Walang piyansa ang plunder kaya kulong siya.

Itong linggo daw, magpapasabog din daw si Revilla at Estrada. Excited na ako makinig. Baka sobrang amazing yun.
***
Ang tanong ng isa: paano ang bahay ng isang beauty queen sa Beverly Hills na mistress daw ng isang akusado na ang bumili daw ay si Napoles. Naku, baka binenta na yan. Ang bahay sa Beverly Hills hindi bababa sa $1.5 milyon o mga P65 milyon.

NBI files plunder raps vs Enrile, Revilla, Estrada, Napoles

By VERA Files

THE National Bureau of Investigation filed on Monday afternoon plunder and malversation of public funds charges against Senators Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile, and businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles before the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the misuse of the Priority Development Assistance Fund, more commonly known as “pork barrel.”

Similar charges were filed against former Masbate Rep. and now Gov. Rizalina Lanete and former APEC party-list Rep. Edgar Valdez.

No fireworks seen with filing of raps vs. lawmakers

By DANA BATNAG, VERA Files

IT WILL be a much-anticipated media event, but the filing of complaints against senators and congressmen allegedly involved in the pork barrel scam is unlikely to result in fireworks or other earthshaking political upheavals.

That’s because filing a complaint with the Ombudsman is just the start of a long process—one that may take years—to make public officials accountable for their misdeeds

Click here (VERA Files) for the rest of the commentary.

The five public officials were found to have each accumulated more than P50 million, the threshold amount for plunder, through misappropriation, misuse and conversion of their PDAF allocations and acceptance of kickbacks from transactions made with Napoles and her NGOs for the PDAF-supported projects, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima told a press briefing.

Charged with similar or lesser offenses–malversation, direct bribery and/or other graft and corrupt practices–were 32 other people identified by whistleblowers, all former staff of Napoles who have personal knowledge and documents of the abuse of the PDAF.

Click here (VERA Files) for the rest of the story.