A P10-billion scam. Air-conditioned detention cells. Two detained VIPs. Dozens of guests. And a feast with 17 dishes including melt-in-your-mouth king crabs and the proverbial juicy and crispy lechon, a fixture at Filipino tables when celebrating the best of times.
My source could not remember exactly when but for sure, this was sometime between 2014 and 2017, at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center in Camp Crame, where two of three senators charged in the PDAF scam were then detained.
I’m resurrecting this issue because it’s a good reminder of how justice looked for VIPs in the Philippines, now that authorities are trying to assure us that some of those implicated in the flood control corruption scandal will be jailed by Christmas.
PDAF, or the Priority Development Assistance Fund scam – also known as the Napoles pork barrel scam – involved stealing around P10 billion in pork barrel funds that were diverted to fake nongovernment organizations controlled by Janet Lim-Napoles between 2003 and 2013.
Those charged were then senators Jinggoy Estrada, Bong Revilla and Juan Ponce Enrile. The three lawmakers were charged and detained, but were later on acquitted. Enrile was detained at the PNP General Hospital and later on released on bail for humanitarian reasons.
‘Those VIP detention joints’
As for Estrada and Revilla, the two spent time in those detention cells at the PNP Custodial Center, which, according to news footage, looked more like studio units – private, with a single bed and spacious enough for one person, maybe more.
The rooms were a far cry from their sprawling homes for sure, but these were definitely not like those cramped rooms for ordinary detainees.
But that’s not all. My source who once visited the Custodial Center while the two were detained was stunned to find a lavish feast fit for kings – not accused plunderers – laid out on a dining table just outside the detention rooms.
By my source’s own estimate, there were 17 dishes, including the all-time Filipino favorite lechon or roasted pork belly, with its trademark crowning glory – that irresistible golden brown skin, perfectly crisp and crackling with every bite.
There was no special occasion, the source said. It was just another day at the Custodial Center. Indeed, such festivities, it turned out, were not unusual – the tables were often filled with a smorgasbord of food.
As I researched further on how the detention cell looked, I found veteran journalist Inday Varona’s blog post titled ‘Those VIP detention joints.’
Here’s an excerpt:
‘The last we heard from Senator Bong Revilla’s family, following that drawn-out surrender drama, was that he needs an air cooler for his special cell – more a studio – in the Philippine National Police custodial center. His wife, Rep. Lani Mercado, says the heat gives him migraines.
‘Revilla’s new flat may be well below the standards of the clan’s sprawling Cavite homes. But as TV news footage shows, it’s comfortable enough.
‘An outcry soon followed, with memes spreading on social media.
‘One compared the cells renovated for Revilla and Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile – all three charged with the non-bailable crime of plunder – with the bunkhouses for Yolanda survivors. The meme’s subtext is that Revilla and company are accused of heinous crimes while Yolanda folk’s only crime is that of existence.
‘Previous news reports, quoting government agencies, have shown the Yolanda bunk homes to be of substandard stuff. This news video also reports an old man dying from heat stroke and children falling ill. His widow notes the stifling heat. Electricity use is only for light.’
As for Janet Lim-Napoles, who is currently at the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City following her conviction for plunder, she was, at the time, detained in a two-bedroom bungalow with a floor area of about 82 square meters at Fort Sto. Domingo. The compound was reportedly guarded by 300 Special Action forces, Varona also said in her blog.
Enrile, who is now chief presidential legal counsel, was cleared of his remaining PDAF-related case at the Sandiganbayan.
Estrada and Revilla have also been acquitted of plunder, though remaining charges are pending for Estrada.
It’s interesting to note that the two were again tagged by alleged key players in the flood control corruption but both denied any involvement in the mess.
Slow wheels of justice
Eleven years after the PDAF scam, this nation of 115 million is facing another historic corruption scandal, the biggest in our nation’s storied journey, with estimated losses potentially hitting the P1-trillion mark.
Investigations are ongoing. Cases are being prepared, some have already been filed, but nobody has yet been sent to jail.
Those implicated are no ordinary Filipinos. The labyrinthine money trail shows current and former lawmakers, ex-DPWH undersecretaries, engineers and billionaire contractors.
Some of them could be recidivists or those who repeatedly commit crimes.
For our beloved Republic, the only way through this is to bring the perpetrators to justice – charged in court, detained for non-bailable offenses and put behind bars if found guilty.
But let’s heed the lessons from the cases of PDAF VIPs. Justice must not be biased toward the powerful. It must be meted out equally to everyone – no lechon parties, no VIP detention quarters, no hospital arrests, not even for lawmakers. If anything, the opposite should hold true: as lawmakers, they should have known better than to violate the laws of the land.
Justice that bends for them is no justice at all.