Napoles and Congress rolled into one! SHOOTING STRAIGHT By Bobit S. Avila So finally the infamous Janet Lim Napoles is now in a Fort Sto. Domingo cell-cum-safehouse-cum-hideout. But are the Filipino people happy now? No not quite! People just do not believe that this Mrs. Napoles (whom DILG Sec. Manuel “Mar” Roxas calls Ma’am) was the brains of this P10 billion pork barrel scam. She must have one of those Senators or Congressmen to act as her tutor and when she learned the ropes…she became an endearing personality amongst the political elite. Already we have seen Mrs. Napoles playing godmother to the weddings of children of the political elite. As time goes by, we shall certainly see more friends of Napoles coming out of the woodwork. So now with Napoles incarcerated… we would like to see her dancing partners, the Senators or Congressmen who danced the tango with her on the P10 billion scam either take a leave of absence or resign or jailed with her in Sto. Domingo. Resign or take a leave? Of course these members of the political elite don’t know what delicadeza is all about. So I guess the indignant Filipino people who went to Rizal Park last Monday, Aug. 26 might just head towards EDSA this time… to demand more action from the Aquino government or worse. Already we are hearing calls for P-Noy to resign. Others are even more cruel, like veteran journalist Nestor Mata writing an article saying that President Aquino is unfit to rule. Now should we blame the mass of ignorant Filipinos who voted for President Aquino? Or can we blame the use of PCOS machines in 2010 where the electronic dagdag bawas was perpetrated to thwart the will of the people? While we await the fate of Mrs. Napoles… Cebuanos are also sick and tired of what happened to the former Congresswoman Clavel Asas Martinez, who was supposed to be charged with a similar scam…although lesser in terms of money as only P10 million from her Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) was allegedly found in her personal account… and later moved to the Girl Scouts of the Philippines (GSP) of which she was chairwoman. In short, she was our version of Napoles and Congress rolled into one! So what ever happened to this case that began way back in 2003? The last we heard of this case was on Aug. 8 when the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) got an arrest warrant from the Sandiganbayan for then 4th District Congresswoman Clavel Asas Martinez, her son Bogo City Mayor Celestino “Tining” Martinez and former Municipal Treasurer Rhett Minquez, but they were nowhere to be found in all her residences in Bogo City and in Cebu City. The following day, the NBI caught up with them but their arrest order was practically useless because the Sandiganbayan “quashed” this arrest warrant with a suspension order. Now indignant Cebuanos are very much interested as to who had this arrest warrant suspended? Call it a coincidence that the Martinezes belong to the Liberal Party. If you want to know why this case is of extreme importance not only for Cebu…but for the rest of the country it is because just like the P10 billion scam… you don’t even need a lawyer to point out how her pork barrel money allegedly ended up in her personal bank account. A good accountant can easily connect the dots on this paper trail of corruption, the same kind that haunts the national consciousness today. Of course, Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III quickly tried to clear the name of President Aquino, that he nor anyone in the Liberal Party “had no hand in the suspension order of her arrest warrant. Naturally the Filipino people are always kept in the dark when the political elite work quietly to help one of their own. So when people ask… where do you think the P10 billion pork barrel scam would end up? My answer to them is… if the Martinezes can get away with the crime that the Sandiganbayan charged them… do you think that they can charge those legislators that are still in power today? I think not! So it’s back to the ramparts!
Posted on: Tue, 03 Sep 2013 00:08:28 +0000
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