OP ED EDITORIAL & CARTOONS: MANILA – The money trail

August 3, 2018August 3, 2018 Contributor 0 Comment OP ED EDITORIAL & CARTOONS: MANILA - The money trail

If the United States government has to wait for the conclusion of judicial proceedings in the Philippines against Janet Lim-Napoles, the accused mastermind of the pork barrel scam is assured of never facing prosecution in US soil.

The cases against Napoles, three of them for plunder, are crawling along as usual, several years after the pork barrel scandal erupted and she was indicted together with a handful of lawmakers. The new ombudsman is expected to do better than his predecessor and indict more of the nearly 200 congressmen and senators, most of them still holding public office, who were implicated in the scam not just by whistle-blower Benhur Luy but also by the Commission on Audit in its own investigation.

US federal prosecutors at least may gain jurisdiction over Napoles’ relatives, who are her co-defendants in a money laundering case filed in California. Napoles together with her children Jeane Catherine, Jo Christine and James Christopher as well as her brother Reynaldo and his wife Ana Marie are accused of depositing in US banks $20 million from the pork barrel scam and spending the money on real estate, luxury cars and business shares, among others.

Graft busters in the Philippines may want to take a similar approach in going after those suspected of stealing public money. Corruption thrives in this country partly because those who engage in it together with their relatives get to enjoy their dirty money.

Legislators, a number of whom are suspected of corruption and money laundering, have consistently resisted proposals to pass laws against racketeering. Only the prospect of an international blacklist for the Philippines compelled Congress to pass the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001. And then it took a few more years before corruption was included among the predicate crimes covered by the law.

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Now that the laws are in place and there is an Anti-Money Laundering Council, the government should be more aggressive in nailing down plunderers by following the money trail. With bank transactions and other pieces of solid evidence available, litigation can move faster and swift justice becomes possible. And with punishment carried out, the country might yet see an end to impunity in corruption.

(The Philippine Star) – August 3, 2018 – 12:00am

ASEANEWS EDITORIAL & CARTOONS:

7.1. D. Tribune –Facebook’s folly

7.2. Manila Bulletin – President mobilizes PNP for drive on rice cartels

7.3. The Manila Standard –Seal of approval

7.4. The Manila Times –NAPOLES

7.5. The Philippine Daily Inquirer –The tribune

7.6 The Philippine Star – The money trail

7. Apurahin ang kaso ni Napoles – Pilipino Star Ngayon – Madam na Foolish!

8.1. For The Straits Times – Mission: Impossible – Fallout and the Indo-Pacific

Ravi Velloor
Associate Editor

A 35-year veteran of the trade, he has reported from across Asia, and the US. Formerly Foreign Editor and South Asia Bureau Chief of ST, he is as much at ease with global business and macro-economic issues as he is with diplomacy and international politics. A Jefferson Fellow, Ravi previously worked with Bloomberg News, Time Warner magazines and Agence France-Presse.

All photographs, news, editorials, opinions, information, data, others have been taken from the Internet ..aseanews.net | [email protected] |.For comments, Email to :D’Equalizer | [email protected] | Contributor

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