1. NAPOLES TRANSFERRED TO MAKATI CITY JAIL
Janet Lim-Napoles, allegedly a central figure in the PHP10-billion Pork Barrel Scam was transferred to Makati City Jail from Camp Crame late Thursday. She will be held there since the warrant for her arrest for Serious Illegal Detention was issued by a Makati court. She has, though, asked to be held either at Crame or Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig, citing security reasons. According to her lawyer, Napoles has diabetes, prompting netizens to speculate that she will end up at St. Luke’s Medical Center like other high-profile suspects.
2. UNA: NAPOLES COULD BE USED AS POLITICAL WEAPON
Vice President Jejomar Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance says turning Janet Lim-Napoles into a state witness would give the Aquino administration a weapon against its critics. Party secretary general Toby Tiangco, a congressman from Navotas City, said “many fear that the witch hunt may expand selectively to political enemies of the administration.” UNA Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, and Gregorio Honasan II have been implicated in the scam, as well as Senator Bong Revilla, chairman of Lakas-CMD party.
3. P-NOY SKIPPING CHINA-ASEAN TRADE SHOW
President Benigno Aquino III will not be going to the China-Association of Southeast Asian Nations Expo for Complex Trade Show in Nanning province after the President of China asked him to just visit “at a more conducive time.” The 10th Caexpo, scheduled for Sept 3 to 6, had listed the Philippines as the “country of honor.” The Philippines and China have been at odds, though, over territorial claims in the West Philippine Sea.
4. DOT: LUNETA FLAGPOLE NOT OVERPRICED
The Department of Tourism says the PHP7.8-million we’re spending to restore the Independence flagpole to its original height of 150 feet is a fair price and that the project was bidded out properly. The flagpole is special because of its vintage: it was used when the U.S. granted the Philippines independence in 1946.
5. PORK BARREL FUND COULD BUY 41 NAVY SHIPS
Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio says the PHP27 billion in the proposed General Appropriations bill for 2014 should be used to buy more Navy ships to defend Philippine territory. “If we use the proposed PHP27-billion pork barrel fund for 2014 to acquire warships, the Philippines can buy 41 BRP Ramon Alcaraz type of warships,” he said, referring to the country’s newest frigate, a former US Coast Guard cutter that has joined the Philippine Fleet. It has to be said, though, that the Alcaraz is not really a war ship.
