Who’s In the List? NO, PNOY IS NOT IN NAPOLES’ LIST BUT A LOT OF BIG PEOPLE ARE IN IT

By Manny Pinol

Just like the famous “Schindler’s List” of World War II, the list of individuals who have benefitted from the Pork Barrel Scam which alleged mastermind Janet Lim Napoles reportedly gave to former Senator Panfilo Lacson and Justice Secretary Leila de Lima is a document of great value to almost every Filipino.

To the ordinary Filipino who pays his taxes at the pain of being haled to court, the list is his hope of knowing whether the political leader he entrusted his fate and the future of his children too betrayed him or not.

The lowly Filipino who wears slippers would like the Napoles List to be made public.

For those who fear that their names are in the list, they now invoke such requirements as “hard proof” and “documentary evidence” to back up Napoles’ list.

Documentary evidence? Hard proof?

When the whistleblowers started talking and went to the Senate to divulge what they knew, did anybody ask them to submit documentary evidence and hard proof before they were allowed to speak and their statements were made public?

The withholding of the Napoles list has fanned wild speculations to the extent that some people are suspecting that the reason why it is not made public is because President Benigno Aquino III’s name is in it.

Last night, after I heard of the rumors of PNoy’s name being in the list, I made a few calls to well-connected friends to check the veracity of the report.

“No, it’s not true. The President’s name is not in the list,” said one of my informants.

But there are several big names in the list, including one which belongs to a very vocal senator who many thought represented the new breed of young Filipino idealistic political leaders.

No, it’s not Chiz Escudero. It’s the other guy.

Perhaps, the reason why former senator Lacson said that the Senate may collapse under the weight of the Napoles expose was because so many big names of big people are in it.

Very close allies of the President are reportedly in the list and they could be the same people invoking the principle of “documentary evidence” prior to the public disclosure of the Napoles list.

Lacson said the national security is at risk in the face of the gravity of the Napoles List.

Perhaps, our top leaders should also take into consideration the fact that the continued non-disclosure of the Napoles list could really pose a national security risk because the people could start a revolution.

In the face of the long brownouts, high unemployment rate and confirmed massive corruption in government, all that is needed to light up the fuse for the bomb to explode is to deny the Filipino people the right to know who betrayed them and who stole the future of their children.

Make the Napoles List PUBLIC, NOW!