Miriam to expose people behind Interior Undersecretary Puno

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago is angling for an exposé during a hearing later this week that will unmask alleged backers of Interior Undersecretary Rico Puno and the corruption that is supposedly the motivation behind this support system.   Chaired by Santiago, the Senate committee on constitutional amendments, revision of codes and laws is probing allegations that Puno and a bunch of police officers tried to enter the condominium unit of the late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo a day after Robredo died in a plane crash in Masabate.   The maid in the condominium in Quezon City supposedly phoned the late Interior secretary’s wife, Leni, when the Puno party allegedly tried to get inside the unit.   "I'm going to try and draw that out... during the hearing but right now I can’t… because I'll be accused of unfair allegations without any evidence," Santiago told reporters during an interview Monday.   "There will be a lot of sound and fury on Friday... a lot of sound from Usec. Puno, a lot of fury from me,” the senator added.   Santiago made the statement after she was asked on what she thinks about why President Benigno Aquino III seemed to be defending Puno's actions.   "Maybe the President is not defending Mr. Puno but is just trying to protect the backers of Mr. Puno," she said.   Without giving out any clue on the people who are supposedly behind Puno, Santiago claimed the support behind the Interior undersecretary stems not from “a political motivation.   "I think it is just corruption," she said.   The President admitted before the media that Robredo was investigating suspicious procurement cases – including arms and ammunition – that might or might not involve Puno.   Aquino said he ordered Puno at that time to secure the office of Robredo, whose chartered plane crashed on Aug. 18 and went missing until the Piper Seneca and its dead passengers were found on Aug. 21. Robredo’s security aide Senior Inspector June Abrasado survived the crash.   But the President noted he did not ask Puno to secure the DILG chief's residence.   Thus, Santiago called on the Senate to investigate Puno with the hearing scheduled on Friday.   The senator said the committee will ask the "question uppermost in the minds of most Filipinos, particularly in Metro Manila today."   "The first question is why did you have to go to the house when nobody told you to go there? Your superior, meaning the President, did not request you to go [there]," she said.   "Hindi naman siya sports climber or house burglar so bakit siya nandodoon?" she added.   "What was he so afraid of that he himself had to have personal possession outside of the orders to him of President Aquino?" she said.   Earlier in the day, Santiago sent out invitations for resource speakers in the upcoming hearing.   Among them were:

• Robredo's wife Atty. Maria Leonor Gerona-Robredo

• Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr.

• Environment Secretary Ramon Paje

• Justice Secretary Leila de Lima

• Interior Secretary-designate Manuel Roxas III

• Police chief Director General Nicanor Bartolome

• Archbishop Oscar Cruz.

"Once we hold the first hearing I'll check who are present… Those who are absent will automatically be issued subpoenas except Archbishop Cruz and Atty. Leni Robredo, because they are not directly involved and they are not government officials," the senator said.   Paje was invited to talk about illegal logging, and Cruz about jueteng to which Puno was previously linked, according to the Senator.   "I will look into all the controversies that have surrounded... Mr. Puno since he took office," she said.   And if her committee finds enough evidence that Puno was involved in any possible wrongdoing, she said Aquino would not have any reason to appoint him anymore to any position.   "Assuming for the sake of argument that enough evidence is adduced during the hearing and he is found suspicious… sufficient for the senate to recommend a criminal investigation by the Ombudsman, then that would already hinder the plan to place him in another office," she said. — VS, GMA News