Suspicious handling of Napoles, whistle-blower

Why is Benhur Luy, the so-called whistle-blower of the P10-billion pork barrel scam, not allowed to name those involved in the scam? We understand he had to wear a bulletproof vest and to be surrounded by bodyguards during his appearance at a Senate blue ribbon committee hearing, but why was Justice Secretary Leila de Lima sitting right next to him, even answering some of the questions directed at him? Luy is a grown man and De Lima is not his legal counsel, and revealing the names of suspects is not against the law. And so why the restrictions as to what questions from the senators he could or couldn’t answer?

With the recently surfaced pictures showing Janet Lim-Napoles with President Aquino and Senate President Frank Drilon, it makes me wonder if the Aquino administration is trying to hide something and to manipulate the circumstances surrounding this entire pork barrel scandal. There are talks that Napoles met with the President in Malacañang before she surrendered to the police, and the whistle-blower is being tightly “guarded” by Secretary De Lima. Something smells fishy with the way things are being handled.

—KYLE ORTEGA,

kylexyortega@yahoo.com