And then there were three.
We're talking about the formal filing of
graft charges by the National Bureau of Investigation against the third batch of
incumbent and former public officials alleged to have participated in the P10
billion pork barrel scam.
The
latest batch include Sen. Gregorio Honasan, Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority Director-General Joel Villanueva and Cagayan de Oro Rep.
Rufus Rodriguez, among many others. They are charged with violating Republic
Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
The
NBI says the respondents were found to have allocated Priority Development
Assistance Fund, or PDAF, to the bogus foundations set up by businesswoman
Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged mastermind of the scam.
Apart
from Honasan—the current vice president
of the opposition party United Nationalist Alliance—two political allies of the
Aquino administration, Villanueva and Rodriguez—are now charged with graft.
What should we make
of this? Apparently, this is intended to show that the Aquino administration
does not engage in selective justice.
In the first batch,
three senators identified with the opposition had been charged with plunder and
sent to jail, prompting critics to say that the administration had been
targeting its political adversaries but coddling its allies and supporters.
We certainly hope
that the Aquino administration will be unswerving in adhering to its mantra of
daang matuwid or the straight path in the last 11 months of its term and
prosecute all those engaged in graft and corruption without fear or favor.
If President Aquino
wants to leave a lasting legacy after his term, he should not only be
personally untainted by any hint of corruption, he should also show that he is
not afraid to bring to justice those who broke their vow to serve the public
with the highest standards of integrity and honesty.
–End-
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