MANILA, Dec. 4 (PNA) — Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Leila M. De Lima on Wednesday said that an inter-agency task force has been created to examine the misuse of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel following the Supreme Court ruling that declared it unconstitutional.
The task force is composed of the DOJ, National Bureau of Investigation, Office of the Ombudsman, and the Commission on Audit.
De Lima said the mandate of the task force is to start a case buildup starting with the examination of the COA audit reports that are not included in the investigation being conducted by the NBI.
The NBI’s focus is the pork misuse which involved the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) of businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles.
Napoles is the alleged mastermind behind the P10-billion pork barrel and the P900-million Malampaya Fund scams.
The creation of the task force was in response to the SC’s directive to check into the abuse committed by some lawmakers in disbursing the pork barrel fund.
De Lima earlier said that the SC’s directive is a “daunting task.” (PNA)