Stay alert, Pinoys told after Napoles' surrender

The central figure in the so-called “pork barrel scandal” may already be in government custody, but Filipinos have been urged to heave no sigh of relief.
 
The surrender of businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles should not pacify anger over the alleged misuse of public funds, a lawmaker said.
 

“The public should not rest easy yet,” Kabataan Party-list Representative Terry Ridon said hours after Napoles’ surrender to President Benigno Aquino III late Wednesday.
 
The recent development “should not deter the public from stepping up the call for the abolition of the pork barrel system, particularly presidential pork,” he added.
 
Ridon went on to say that Napoles’ surrender could be Malacanang’s mechanism to diffuse calls to abolish the so-called “presidential pork.”
 
“The surrender seems among the ‘calculated tactics’… to defeat the public outrage and deflect the increasing pressure on the President to give up his own pork,” Ridon said.
 
The militant lawmaker also said Napoles should be forced to identify those involved in the scam “even if it leads all the way to Malacanang.”
 
Reports recently claimed that a Malacanang consultant closely linked to Napoles has been fired at the height of the controversy.
 
Napoles, who is accused of illegally detaining whistleblower Benhur Luy, surrendered on the eve of a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee probe.
 
This led to rumors that Napoles will be put on the witness stand to identify the lawmakers who diverted funds to her nonexistent NGOs.
 
Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero however noted that it may be too late to invite Napoles to the Senate hearing scheduled 9 a.m. Thursday.
 
“Next hearing maybe,” the senator, who earlier pushed for the abolition of the Priority Development Assistance Fund, said.
 
“But I’d like to find out who arranged her surrender to PNoy,” dzBB report Nimfa Ravelo quoted Escudero as saying.
 
Commenting on rumors of Napoles being state witness, Escudero deferred to the Justice department, adding however that the businesswoman should point to someone who is “more guilty.”
 
For his part, Senator Gringo Honasan, who is among the five senators implicated in the scandal, continued to deny links to Napoles.
 
He does not know Napoles personally, Honasan said, even as he noted that her husband’s name is familiar from his days in the military, particularly during People Power 1.
 
“With or without Napoles, mapapatunayan ko di ako sangkot sa pork barrel scam. Kung may FOI Law, di tayo naghahabol ng ganito,” the senator added.
 
Aside from Honasan, also dragged into the scandal are the names of Senators Bong Revilla, Jinggoy Estrada, Juan Ponce Enrile and Bongbong Marcos.
article from http://ph.news.yahoo.com/stay-alert--pinoys-told-after-napoles--surrender-180735295.html