Joel M. Sy Egco Senior Reporter
WHETHER lawmakers and other government officials involved in the pork barrel scam will be punished is entirely the call of the next administration, Malacañang said on Friday.
Although criminal complaints have been filed against senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jose ‘Jinggoy” Estrada and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and other personalities suspected to have benefited from the priority development assistance fund (PDAF) or pork barrel of lawmakers, their comeuppance will hinge on the determination of the next President and other government officials to mete justice on all pork players, Palace deputy spokesperson Abigail Valte said.
Valte added that justice will be served even after the term of President Benigno Aquino 3rd ends in 2016.
“It will depend on the next administration, really, and the next, whoever the next Ombudsman will be, whoever the next Secretary of Justice will be, and the next chairman of the COA [Commission on Audit]. It will depend on them,” she pointed out.
Valte said the term of Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales will go beyond Aquino’s.
“Her term extends beyond that of the President. [COA] Chairman Grace Pulido-Tan’s does not. Obviously, we have an obvious answer for [Justice] Secretary de Lima’s term,” Valte said.
The Palace official added that the filing of plunder and graft complaints against the three senators “is a step forward in the determination of the truth, which will be the basis for exacting accountability under our justice system.”