MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/07 November) — Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago started by training her guns at alleged pork barrel scam Janet Lim-Napoles, but ended up hitting her colleague, Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, during the televised hearing Thursday by the Senate blue ribbon committee.
At the start of the hearing, Napoles was stonewalling the questions posed by committee chair Teofisto Guingona III that this observer was almost tempted to switch to a sports channel. I lost count how many times the witness had recited the phrase “di ko alam” (I don’t know). But Santiago breathed life into what could have been a dull proceeding.
Santiago began by enlightening Napoles on her rights – in particular the right against self-incrimination – and the situations wherein such rights may be invoked. In the subsequent questioning by Santiago, Napoles did extensively (excessively?) invoke [her] right against self-incrimination that at one point the senator told her she was only creating the impression that she was hiding something.
Santiago then advised Napoles it would serve her better if she became state’s witness and identified the real mastermind, alluding to Enrile who, she stressed, was the Senate president at the time the questioned pork transactions occurred.
Further, the senator warned the Basilan native that she was dealing with “murderous” individuals, a point she tried to emphasize by recalling Enrile’s role as defense minister during Martial Law.