Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago on Friday asked Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II to intensify the VIP police protection for Commission on Audit Commissioner Heidi Mendoza.
In a press statement, Santiago, who is on medical leave and recuperating from stage IV lung cancer, said she will also be filing a resolution for the intensified security measures for Mendoza on Tuesday, October 7.
The resolution will call for heightened and fully-armed, 24-hour VIP police protection in favor of Mendoza.
Santiago also asked the Senate blue ribbon committee and its subcommittee to recommend the admission of Mendoza into the Witness Protection Program just like other witnesses who have testified on the alleged overpriced Makati City Hall Building II.
Santiago called on Senate President Franklin Drilon to approve the recommendation regarding Mendoza’s admission to the WPP.
On Thursday, Mendoza presented before the subcommittee the findings of the special audit she conducted on Makati in 2001. The result of the special audit was used in the graft charges filed against then-Mayor Dr. Elenita Binay, wife of Vice President Jejomar Binay, which are now pending before the courts.
She first received death threats in 2011 when she first testified on the alleged financial irregularities in the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Earlier, former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado, lawyer Renato Bondal, and Barangay Olympia, Makati chairman Nicholas Enciso VI were given "full Witness Protection Program coverage" upon the recommendation of the Senate.
“If we let this pass, no other significant witness will be willing to testify in any congressional hearing because of fear. Let’s put our boots on the ground and stomp out fear sown by hooligans,” Santiago said.
She said she will also be filing in the Senate: (1) a bill to make the WPP more effective in safeguarding the lives of witnesses and whistle-blowers; and (2) a bill to protect state auditors of the Commission on Audit.
The senator said the present WPP does not even have an organic intelligence and security force as its security force is composed of contractual personnel and sometimes augmented by Philippine National Police and National Bureau of Investigation personnel.
Santiago cited a United Nations Report that said the government’s failure concerning the WPP’s implementation is “the prime cause of the lack of witnesses and therefore convictions” in high-profile cases.
She also said that a separate law is needed to protect COA auditors who risk their lives investigating anomalous government transactions involving powerful politicians. — Amita Legaspi/RSJ, GMA News
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