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Ombudsman orders Napoles, et al. to answer PDAF charges
21 November 2013, Press Release from Ombudsman Office

            The Office of the Ombudsman Special Panel of Investigators (Ombudsman Panel) – which is conducting the preliminary investigation/administrative adjudication of the respondents in the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam – directed Janet Lim Napoles, Senators Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, Juan Ponce Enrile, and their co-respondents to file their Counter-Affidavits and other controverting evidence within ten (10) days from receipt of the Order.

             The Ombudsman Panel issued separate Orders dated November 19, 2013 after having evaluated the case and found “enough basis to proceed with the preliminary investigation” of the three (3) separate complaints filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) against Senators Revilla, Estrada, Enrile and their respective sets of respondents-public employees and non-governmental organization (NGO) officers.

 Copies of the NBI complaints were attached to the Orders which have been scheduled to be individually served on the numerous respondents since yesterday, starting with the NBI complaint against Senator Enrile, et al.

The Ombudsman Panel is poised to issue the next round of “Orders to File Counter-Affidavits” in relation to the five (5) NBI complaints against certain members of the House of Representatives, as well as the related complaints recently filed by the Field Investigation Office (FIO) which were consolidated and assigned to the same Ombudsman Panel.

“Failure to file their Counter-Affidavit(s)/evidence, with proof of service thereof to complainants, within the aforesaid period shall be deemed a waiver of respondents’ right to submit controverting evidence and the preliminary investigation shall proceed accordingly,” the Order reads.

 In an ambush interview after this morning’s budget hearing at the Senate, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales denied the existence of an “eight-page report” purportedly submitted to her, allegedly tagging “Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile as the mastermind of the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam–not businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles,” as one national daily reported today.

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