House may summon Napoles after NBI 'pork scam' probe

MANILA, Philippines – House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. wants the National Bureau 

of Investigation (NBI) to finish first its probe on the alleged pork barrel scam before 

the lower chamber conducts its own investigation.

Belmonte said he welcomes the ongoing NBI probe on the issue and once it is concluded, they will act on the report of the agency.

He said the House may summon businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles, the alleged brains behind the allegedly pork barrel scam.

"I talked with [Justice] Secretary Leila de Lima and I said continue and do it vigorously and see that it is finished and in the meantime, I announce that the House will give full cooperation to that investigation,” Belmonte said in an interview on ANC's Headstart on Tuesday morning.

The House Speaker said at some point, the issue will reach the House ethics committee but he wants the "trained investigators" of NBI to do first their work to avoid grandstanding among the lawmakers.

He wants the NBI to give him reports on the probe, which will be looked into for possible inadequacies.

"I would like the NBI, these trained people, these guys who are working without grandstanding and so forth, I want them to do their job. I want them to finish their job. I said give me the reports afterwards and if we see that there are inadequacies in their work, then we will take over,” he said.

Belmonte also denied that he is handling the issue with kid gloves.

"I'm handling it with common sense. Can you just imagine the ambitions of our country if we are all immersed into a high-profile investigation like that? Everybody will be in that chamber... Nobody is gonna take care of the rest of the work," he said.

The Quezon City representative also claimed that he does not know and has never met Napoles. Belmonte also said that he never donated some of his pork barrel to non-government organizations outside of his district.