No automatic suspension for 'plunder' senators: Drilon

MANILA - Senators who will be charged with plunder before the Office of the Ombudsman will not be automatically suspended, Senate President Franklin Drilon said Monday. Speaking to ANC's Headstart, Drilon said the Ombudsman will have to evaluate the evidence gathered by the National Bureau of Investigation and require the respondents to file their counter-affidavits. He said if the Ombudsman finds the evidence insufficient, the agency will require further investigation. Drilon said a lawmaker will only be expelled from Congress once there is a warrant of arrest from the Sandiganbayan. He also cited as an example Congresswoman and former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo who is under hospital arrest after being charged with electoral sabotage, a nonbailable offense. "She is suspended because she is under physical detention. That is the effect of a warrant of arrest," he said. Meanwhile, Drilon insisted not a single peso of his pork barrel went to the bogus non-government organizations linked to Janet Lim Napoles. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima called for a meeting with National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) officials and the pork barrel scam whistleblowers on Sunday. What came out of the meeting is that cases that were supposed to be filed before the Ombudsman's office on Monday morning would have to be moved to the afternoon because of the stacks of documents that are being prepared. “Reproduction ng mga documents. Just imagine, for every respondent, there are so many documents,” said Atty. Levito Baligod, counsel of the whistle-blowers. De Lima refused to name even the initial respondents who will be charged with plunder and malversation of funds. But according to ABS-CBN sources, three senators are included in the list. Besides the testimony of the whistleblowers, De Lima said they also have the paper trail proving that some lawmakers participated in the release of their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) through the alleged fake non-government organizations (NGOs) operated by Janet Lim Napoles.