De Lima using ‘pork’ case for senatorial ambition?
MANILA — Is Justice Secretary Leila de Lima taking advantage of the “pork barrel” case for her senatorial ambition?
In the draft and unsigned affidavit allegedly of businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles that former Senator Panfilo Lacson turned over to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on Tuesday, Napoles claimed that through lawyer Levito Baligod, De Lima asked 97 mayors allegedly involved in the P900- million Malampaya fund scam to support her senatorial bid.
In the affidavit, Napoles said that she was expecting the 97 mayors to be included in the charge sheet that the Department of Justice filed before the Office of the Ombudsman in October 2013.
Napoles said the mayors benefited from the scam using government funds allocated for energy projects. The detained businesswoman explained in the affidavit that the amount given to the local officials came from the 60-percent cut of Ruby Tuason, who has been accepted as state witness, from the Malampaya fund. “I found out that no one from the 97 mayors was included in the charge sheet by the Department of Justice because Atty. Levito Baligod interviewed each mayor involved and promised their exclusion in the cases provided that they will support the candidacy in Senate of the DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima,” Napoles claimed.