By Benjamin B. Pulta and Paul Atienza
The Daily Tribune
The Daily Tribune
Benhur Luy and Merlina Sunas (Photo credit: PDI)
Two individuals in the eye of the brewing storm over the multibillion-peso ghost government projects allegedly funded by legislators’ public funds will be taken in as state witnesses, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima yesterday said.
Benhur Luy and Merlina Sunas will be placed under the government’s witness protection program (WPP), De Lima confirmed to reporters.
Luy earlier had exposed the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam allegedly perpetrated by Janet Lim Napoles and her brother of the JLN Group of Companies where he was previously connected.
Luy identified five senators and 23 members of the House of Representatives in the alleged pork barrel scam.
The Justice chief said she made a previous offer to Luy to be covered by WPP after he was rescued by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) from the camp of Napoles last March when the whistle-blower filed serious illegal detention charges against the Napoles, but Luy decided then not to be givent government protection.
The Justice chief said she made a previous offer to Luy to be covered by WPP after he was rescued by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) from the camp of Napoles last March when the whistle-blower filed serious illegal detention charges against the Napoles, but Luy decided then not to be givent government protection.
According to De Lima, when she reiterated recently the offer to Baligod, the latter was able to convince his client this time.
“I’ve talked to them already before. I interviewed Benhur before, that’s why we initiated the investigation and I created a very small team of trusted investigators to look into the allegations of Benhur and his companions,” she added.
De Lima, however, stressed it was too early for her to assess the “strength” of the case, saying she has yet to review all the documents and other pieces of evidence currently with the NBI.
These individuals – just like Sunas – were allegedly named as presidents and officers of Napoles’ ghost foundations without their knowledge, Baligod said.
But Napoles’ lawyer Bruce Rivera said the NBI and De Lima were just “misled” into rescuing Luy and taking him into custody during a “fake rescue” last March at the condominium unit of Napoles’ brother, Reynaldo Lim.
According to him, this was pointed out in the DoJ resolution dismissing the serious illegal detention charges filed by the parents of Luy against Napoles and Lim.
With the NBI standing by Luy despite the DoJ resolution, Rivera said he believes the agency might not be the best venue anymore for the investigation on the alleged scam.
But De Lima warned Napoles’ camp against its accusation.
“We won’t take seriously this kind of move or strategy because at the end of the day, this may be part of their smear campaign against the NBI,” she said.
The Partido Lakas ng Masa, meanwhile, urged De Lima to make sure Napoles cannot leave the country following the controversy surrounding the P10-billion pork barrel scam where Napoles was accused of being the “mastermind.”
During a protest rally at the Department of Justice, PLM chairman Sonny Melencio said Napoles should be held liable for allegedly dipping her hands into the government coffers.
The group also called for an investigation on allegations Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., whose law firm has allegedly represented Napoles and the Liberal Party, received P100 million from her.
“Ochoa and the Liberal Party have to disclose the kind of connections they have with Napoles…A disclosure is relevant in order to allay the public’s fear of possible whitewash in the investigation by Malacañang or the ruling party,” Melencio said.
The activist fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) has also dared President Aquino to certify as urgent a proposed bill abolishing the pork barrel of senators and congressmen, including the audit-free pork barrel allotted to the Office of the President.
In a press statement, Pamalakaya vice chairman Salvador France said Malacañang should certify House Bill (HB) 1535 recalling the pork barrel to all lawmakers and the President.
HB 1535 was filed the other day by militant congressmen belonging to Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Gabriela, Alliance of Concerned Teachers and Kabataan Partylist — collectively known as the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives.
The bill shall prohibit the President from providing a budgetary item or including in the proposed budget submitted to Congress every fiscal year lump sum allocations to the priority development assistance fund (PDAF) and other lump sum discretionary amounts.
Aside from the legislators’ pork barrel, the bill shall also abolish the Presidential pork barrel, such as the President’s Social Fund sourced from revenue-generating agencies like the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., Philippine Charity Sweepstake Office and the Malampaya Fund.
“We compel the highest office in the land to certify as urgent HB 1535 to frustrate the large-scale resource grabbing and plunder of taxpayers’ money in aid of legislation. Instead, the pork barrel should be re-channeled to basic social services such as housing, education, health and other forms of services beneficial to the people and the taxpaying public,” France said.
But Malacañang said it is leaving to Congress the decision on the proposed scrapping of PDAF.
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda added the President has not said anything on the calls by some groups to abolish the pork barrel.
“We have not discussed it with the President, so I am not in a position to say what the position is. However, my understanding yesterday in the press briefing of (Budget) Secretary (Florencio) Butch Abad, (is) that they have made some policy recommendations. I am not aware what those policy recommendations are to the President,” he added.
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RELATED STORY:
Probe should include Aquino’s P24-B pork
By Charlie V. Manalo
The Daily Tribnue
The Daily Tribnue
President Benigno Aquino III
Since suspicions are rife that pork barrels of public officials are being misused amid the P10 billion pork barrel scam that is being played up against the political opponents of the administration, civic groups are now demanding a probe on President Aquino’s bigger P25 billion discretionary funds.
The activist fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said the Commission on Audit (CoA) should pursue a comprehensive audit on the P24.8 billion-pork barrel Congress had allotted for Aquino last year.
Pamalakaya vice chairman Salvador France made the appeal a day after Malacañang announced that the Office of the President will keep his pork barrel amid mounting calls demanding the abolition of pork barrel given to lawmakers and the Office of the President.
France said his group is supporting the demand for the abolition pork barrel currently given to senators and congressmen, including the President’s Social Fund (PSF).
“The Filipino taxpaying public including the urban poor who pay P3.60 in expanded value added tax for every kilo of rice is entitled to an honest-to-goodness audit of the pork barrel transferred to Aquino’s presidential account in 2012. The CoA should establish how the President spent his pork last year and present a honest accounting of public funds spent by the ruling political party in Malacañang,” France said.
The Pamalakaya leader lambasted Aquino for refusing to heed the legitimate demands of the people to have presidential pork abolished along with the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of lawmakers following the discovery of P10-billion pork barrel scam by CoA.
France said PSF is a potential source of money which the president and his allies can use for corruption since this kind of pork barrel is free from public scrutiny and government audit.
According to Pamalakaya, the Office of the President’s pork barrel in 2012 included the P2.695-billion in intelligence funds, of which, P666 million was earmarked for National Security Monitoring including requirements for the Presidential Anti-Organized and Syndicated Crime and Transnational Crime Campaign as well as P600 million for confidential and intelligence expenses which are released on approval of the President.
The group said in 2012, the Office of the President also sought P224.68 million budget for travel expenses alone.
Pamalakaya said Aquino exercises discretionary powers on the intelligence funds of the Office of the President, contingent funds, calamity funds and unprogrammed funds. About P1 billion pesos was given to President Aquino for contingent funds.
Pamalakaya said the contingent fund was administered by the Office of the President and used exclusively to fund the requirements of new and/or urgent projects and activities that need to be implemented during the year. This fund may be used to augment the existing appropriations for local and foreign travels of the President, but in no case shall it be used for the purchase of motor vehicles.”
The group said the Office of the President also received P14.2 billion for disaster management use, apart from entry from the calamity fund, which went up to P7.5 billion in 2012 from P5 billion in 2011.
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