SENATOR Ferdinand Marcos Jr. yesterday wondered whether efforts by the present officials of the Development Bank of the Philippines as well as the Commission on Audit to pin down former finance minister Roberto Ongpin in an alleged P660 million behest loan deal with DBP are not “politically-motivated.”

Asked if the filing of criminal charges against Ongpin is part of a “witch hunt” against close friends of former First Gentleman Juan Miguel Arroyo, Marcos said: “That is exactly what I am saying. Is this a witch hunt? If it is shown that it is a valid investigation, then so be it. But we have to determine that.”

“We don’t know. That is precisely what we are trying to determine if it is just politically motivated,” Marcos said when asked further whether he sees any political color in the ongoing CoA probe as well as the Senate investigation into Ongpin’s DBP loan.

Marcos was bothered by the admission by CoA officials that they started to investigate Ongpin based on newspaper accounts that he was allegedly able to obtain the loan easily.  “In fact that is one of the reasons which were a little surprising to me because I did not imagine that CoA initiated investigation solely on the basis of newspaper reports,” Marcos said.

“That does not seem to be a sufficient basis for conducting an investigation. What comes out in the newspaper is not evidence, It cannot be a basis of any conclusion,” he said in a briefing.

Sen. Serge Osmeña, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banks, on the other hand believes that some elements of a behest  loan were “present” in Ongpin’s loan such as the “unusual speed” with which the previous DBP board approved his loan. “So nakita natin na in one day, ‘yung first (loan) (approved in) one week. In the second loan (approved on) Nov. 4. All three committees approved it. That’s one of the elements of behest loan. Wang wang approval,” he told mediamen.

Ongpin did not show up during yesterday’s Senate investigation into the controversy which was initiated by Sen. Panfilo Lacson. Ongpin, who is abroad, was represented by his lawyer, Alexander Poblador, who incidentally was Lacson’s lawyer in the double murder charges filed against him by the daughters of slain publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer. Ongpin is expected to return to the country on October 25. 

“We have to determine whether there is a political motive behind this investigation -- if this was instigated, if this is part of a witch hunt or if it is part of a normal investigation process. That is why it is important to see what initiated the investigation in the very first place,” Marcos said when asked why he insisted on the exact date that the CoA started its investigation.

He added: “And as I said the CoA cannot give us a straight answer as to what the true reasons are and whether it is instigated, and if so, when the investigation started. Ang  kanilang sinabi ay inumpisahan nila ang imbestigasyon  dahil sa report sa  pahayagan.” 

“It would seem that the CoA was not able to fully explain why they undertook this investigation and that is something we need to determine so that we will know whether or not the motivation behind this is truly to defend the government from any transactions that are prejudicial to the interest of government or there is a political color to what is being conducted,” Marcos said.