‘More officials to follow Leila’

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez is eyeing to put more officials behind bars barely a week after the arrest of Sen. Leila De Lima.

In the weekly forum “Insider Exclusive” in Makati City Wednesday morning, Alvarez said the former administration is not yet off the hook in the Mamasapano massacre and in the multibillion-peso Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or “pork barrel” scam, and that the Duterte administration is keen on reopening investigations of both cases.

“There were so many crimes committed in the past that were put under the rugs. I’d like to say that from my point of view, more will be jailed. This government is not into selective justice,” Alvarez said.

As far as the Mamasapano case is concerned, Alvarez said the Duterte administration will not spare anybody in the investigation, including former president Benigno Aquino III.

Alvarez, an ally of President Duterte, noted that the families of the fallen 44 members of the Special Action Force (SAF) are still demanding justice for the death of their loved ones.

The 44 SAF commandos died in the deadly clash against Moro separatists in January 2015 allegedly upon the orders of Aquino.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales has also said Aquino is not yet off the hook over Mamasapano.

On the PDAF issue, Alvarez said the former administration has not given enough attention to the case. He also wondered why only two opposition senators, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla, were put behind bars while those from the majority of the former administration were spared.