Janet Napoles, Benhur Luy and Merlina Sunas : Do They Deserve Special Treatment at the Expense of Taxpayer's Money?

Wazzup Pilipinas!

"President Aquino indefinitely suspending the release of PDAF is a good start. 

In due time, a new system is necessary where the people will benefit the most from it (and without giving any government official the opportunity to get a commission from it).

I also hope that the media will be cautious in stirring the emotions of people. At times, I felt like malice is being insinuated on how some of the media portrays Napoles manner of surrender and the actions taken by the government to guarantee her safety." - Janette Toral from http://www.bloggingfromhome.com/2013/09/janet-lim-napoles-benhur-luy-merlina.html

Everyone has been crying out for fair treatment and justice recently.

Almost immediately after the call for the Million People March went viral online where social media played a major role in bringing together thousands, if not millions, of people in Luneta, Malacanang surprisingly called for a press conference where the President announced he is in favor of scrapping the PDAF. The call for people to unite might have triggered the decision of our President Benigno Simeon Aquino III or more popularly known as PNoy or Noynoy to abolish or suspend the PDAF or best known to many as the pork barrel fund.

However, there was a follow-up statement that they will just be implementing a better system to replace the PDAF.

That may be a big No for many because most of the citizenry wants to scrap the pork - in every form, whether it's revised, improved, renewed, etc.. The people want it out of the politicians pockets entirely.

Majority wants our taxes out of the hands of the greedy politicians and government officials who apparently have too much taxpayer's money in their hands to spend in lavish lifestyles and material possessions.

Too bad for these top-ranking elected officials that out comes whistle blowers to expose their atrocities.

Now, whatever move the government does will always be treated with doubt because we found out that big names are involved with the PDAF scam. Our respected Senators and Congressmen still have to convince the people that they are not guilty of the accusations.

Janet Lim Napoles will still have to face an expected long and tedious trial surrounded by high-profile lawyers that she could easily pay for because of the alleged wealth she and her family accumulated from being involved in the PDAF scam.

Even her daughter Jeane Lim Napoles was scrutinized online for showing off an extravagant lifestyle which raised suspicion that they are indeed getting their money from irregular sources.

Add the fact that media (both trad and online) is somehow sensationalizing and adding speculations to facts that have not been totally verified yet.

Why has it become a national issue? Because we are furious that our hard-earned money, which was deducted from us by force due to a law, was being wasted by government officials who were supposed to be our "public servants" in the first place.

What we want is a clean government. The one who will put the taxpayer's money into good use.

I am in favor of a due process and the benefit of the doubt should be given accordingly...but not to the extent of exhausting huge efforts and funds (manpower, high-profile facilities, vehicle usage, medical services, food provision, security, etc) to keep alleged criminals off the hands of people who want their heads.

Let us not allow the government to take the expense out of the taxpayer's money especially for Janet Lim Napoles who obviously have the "funds" to get her own security. Let the government force her to pay for the expense.

Her surrender to the President was all high-profile and could not have been done by an ordinary Filipino who would have a hard time communicating with high-ranking government officials or even stepping on Malacanan palace grounds. This indicates that she has friends in high places and could very well take care of herself.

But for the whistleblowers, Benhur Luy and Merlina Sunas....yeah by all means,... feed them and keep them safe and away from harm. We need more people like them who couldn't stomach anymore the illegal activities of greedy people like Janet Lim Napoles and her gang of scammers.

*Photo credits : Photographs posted on social media sites by Jeane Lim-Napoles, the daughter of Manila businesswoman, Janet Lim-Napoles, show an extravagance that earned the young woman the title “the new Imelda,” after the free-spending wife of the longtime dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

**Photo credits: Janet Lim-Napoles, seated left, a wealthy businesswoman who is at the center of a corruption scandal, listens to her husband Jimmy, left, as her counsel Lorna Kapunan, seated right, confers with Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras, following Napoles' surrender late Wednesday to President Benigno Aquino III, not in the photo, at Malacanang Palace in Manila, Philippines on Aug. 28.