Tag Archives: Pork Barrel

Health & Medicine, International, Law Enforcement, Politics

SUSPECTED PHILIPPINE ‘PORK BARREL QUEEN’ PETITIONS HIGH COURT FOR HOSPITAL ARREST

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napolesManila, Philippines – The lawyers for Janet Lim-Napoles, principal suspect in the 10 Billion-peso pork barrel scam, have asked the Philippine Supreme Court to grant their client hospital arrest in lieu of imprisonment at a high-security military camp south of the Philippine capital.  Napoles says she was confident that her petition will be granted by the highest court of the land based on her current medical condition.

In papers filed with the court, Napoles listed the following symptoms and illnesses she is currently experiencing: toothache, pain in her ring finger, athlete’s foot, sore throat, sinus infection, hair loss, lack of sleep, lack of appetite, multiple mosquito bites, shrinking waste line, heartburn, sunburn, loss of weight and extreme sadness. Her lawyers argued that remaining in the prison suite will only make matters worse for their client and asked the court to grant the petition on humanitarian grounds.

The Supreme Court is compelled to take up Napoles’ petition because there has been a precedent of hospital arrest. Former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo remains in hospital arrest at the government’s Veterans Memorial Medical Center for charges of plunder.  Refusing to take up Napoles’ case would subject the court to charges of discrimination.

A hearing of the petition has not yet been set.

See related story: Arroyo and Napoles To Become Prison Roommates?

Law Enforcement, Politics

‘PORK BARREL QUEEN’ JANET NAPOLES WILL GET A V.I.P. ROOMMATE AT HER DETENTION CELL

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imageLaguna, Philippines – A tale of two women. Former Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Janet Lim-Napoles. Both in detention, one in a government hospital in Manila and the other in a special bungalow suite inside a military compound in Santa Rosa, Laguna, south of the Philippine capital.

Arroyo is under hospital arrest for corruption and plunder charges committed while she was president while Napoles is the suspected mastermind of a multi-billion peso pork barrel scam which siphoned taxpayer money into phony non-governmental organizations .

This week, lawmakers aligned with President Noynoy Aquino demanded that both women be transferred to a regular jail to dispel suspicions that they were being given special treatment despite the gravity of the charges against them.

However, for security reasons, Aquino came up with a compromise. Arroyo will be transferred to Napoles’ bungalow in Santa Rosa. In other words, the women will be roommates.

One question remains: which woman will take the bedroom and which will take the couch?

Business, Politics

Jollibee Testifies Before Philippine Senate On Pork Barrel Scam

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imageManila, Philippines – The fat, stupid, happy bee is once again making headlines in the Philippines, just months after it put the  clown permanently out of business in this Asian country of almost 100 million people. See story on the merger of Jollibee and McDonald’s .

As charges of plunder were filed against Janet Lim-Napoles and ranking members of the Philippine Senate this week, the names of more politicians were implicated in testimonies by whistleblowers in the escalating pork barrel scam. The scam involves the diversion of more than 10 billion pesos of taxpayer money into the coffers of fake non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as well as into the pockets of national and local politicians.

In a privilege speech in the Senate, Senator Jinggoy Estrada, one of the Senators charged in the scam, decried what he termed “selective justice” by being singled out among many others who have personally benefited from this money scandal. During  his speech, Estrada suggested that Jollibee, one of the most successful food business enterprises in the country, also benefited from the pork barrel. Estrada did not reveal any details of the alleged involvement of Jollibee in the scam.

Yesterday, Jollibee was summoned to the floor of Congress to answer the allegation by Estrada.

Under oath, Jollibee made a very brief statement at the hearing, then took the Fifth, saying he refuses to answer any questions from the senators on the grounds that he might incriminate himself.

His brief statement: “I can assure this respectable chamber and our millions of loyal customers that Jollibee’s hamburgers are not tainted in any way by pork.  Our burgers are 100% beef.”