Pork barrel case moves forward

According to witness Benhur Luy, the recent ruling of the Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) finding Janet Lim-Napoles and her brother Reynaldo Lim guilty of illegally detaining him and sentencing them to life imprisonment is nothing less than "God's justice".

That's one way of looking at it. But perhaps it should be pointed out that the court decision represents yet another milestone in the nation's quest to put an end to corruption and the misuse of taxpayers' money.

In reaching a decision to send Napoles to jail for up to 40 years, RTC Branch 150 Judge Elmo Alameda said Luy’s narration of events before and during his detention from Dec. 19, 2012 to March 22, 2013, when he was rescued by National Bureau of Investigation agents, was “credible and cohesive.”

But this is by no means the end to Napoles's legal nighmares. She also faces plunder charges in connection with the alleged P10-billion racket involving the diversion of congressional Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), or pork barrel, to ghost projects and bogus nongovernment organizations.

Three senators, namely Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr. are now detained in Camp Crame for their alleged involvement in the PDAF scam.

Apart from the three senators, a number former and current congressmen are also said to have been involved in the scam.

But the anti-corruption drive represented by the crackdown on those who benefited from the diversion of pork barrel funds to their private bank accounts has been tainted by observations—not unfounded—that the administraton is targeting mostly its political adversaries. This is evidenced by the fact that no Liberal Party member named in reports as having diverted their pork barrel to their own pockets since been charged, much less detained.

The three senators now in jail for the pork barrel scam are of course entitled to due process and have the opportunity to confront their accusers in fair and transparent judicial proceedings. Nevertheless, they should accept whatever the decision of the court.  

The Constitution explicitly states that "public office is a public trust". It says all public officials must at all times be accountable to the people and serve them with utmost responsibility and integrity. It's time to put this constitutional provision to an acid test before the courts and to uphold the rule of law no matter who gets hurt.  -END-