Cayetano asks Blue Ribbon to pursue all leads in PDAF scam

Go after Napoles properties and assets now

By Office of the Senate Majority Leader
October 1, 2013

PASAY CITY – “Let’s pursue all leads and search for the truth...no matter who or what will be exposed.”

As a step toward this, Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter S. Cayetano has asked the Committee on Accountability of Public Officers and Investigations (Blue Ribbon Committee) to subpoena the Senate staff who were implicated in the pork barrel scam after being mentioned by whistleblowers during the previous hearing.

“I write to pursue leads provided by the whistleblowers so that the committee may gather more facts and be able to see the whole truth,” Cayetano said in a letter he sent Tuesday to panel chair Senator Teofisto Guingona III.

“We should leave no stone unturned. No special treatment must be accorded to any of the individuals implicated in the scam,” he added.

Go after Napoles properties, assets now

In the letter, the Majority Leader requested that a subpoena ad testificandum be issued for the senate staff and that invitations be sent to representatives of the Anti-Money Laundering Council, Office of Ombudsman, Department of Justice, Bureau of Immigration, and Land Registration Authority for the next Blue Ribbon hearing on pork barrel scam.

Cayetano said he wants to inquire from these people what the government is doing to preserve and recover properties “that are probably fruits of the crime” of Janet Napoles and others who were accused by the DoJ and National Bureau of Investigation team.

“Given that in many instances in the past, bank deposits have been withdrawn in accounts closed while other properties are sold, transferred, or disposed of, government must act now to ensure that I can still recover the people’s money,” he pointed out.

Likewise, he wants to determine if laws are adequate or amendments are needed on allowing alleged plunderers to leave the country before a warrant of arrest is issued.

Calling on the said individuals is in accordance with the Senate's determination to "dig deeper into the PDAF scam and pursue other leads in the investigation" while the subpoena for accused pork scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles remains unsettled.