EDITORIAL
The controversy on how Janet Lim Napoles,president
and CEO of JLN Corp. reportedly absconded with P10 billion funds from the priority
assistance development funds of congressmen and senators has put to light how the
PDAF is being used or misused.
The
National Bureau of Investigation is still probing the case so will leave it at
that.Point of contention is whether top government officials are using the PDAF
for legal or illegal purposes considering this is taxpayers’ money.
Five
senators and 23 members of the House of Representatives allegedly made
available their pork barrel funds to dummy non government organizations for
purported ghost projects worth P10 billion over the past decade, according to
affidavits submitted to the NBI.
Sen. Ramon “Bong”
Revilla Jr. reportedly topped the list of lawmakers said to have allowed the
use of their PDAF to the scheme allegedly hatched by Napoles.
Revilla reportedly gave
the syndicate access to his PDAF, or pork barrel, to dummy NGOs formed by
Napoles and registered in the Securities and Exchange Commission in 22
instances; followed by Senators Juan Ponce Enrile on 21 occasions; Jinggoy
Estrada, 18 times; Ferdinand Marcos Jr., four; and Gringo Honasan, once with a
small amount.
Topping the list of 23
House representatives was Rizalina Seachon-Lanete of Masbate’s third district,
who allowed her pork to be used 13 times; followed by Conrado Estrella III of
Pangasinan’s 6th district and Rodolfo Plaza of Agusan del Sur, both nine
occasions; and former congressman Samuel Dangwa, of Benguet, eight.
Faced with a similar
issue on their pork barrel funds going to spurious projects of bogus NGOs a few
months back, Estrada called for an investigation into who could have unduly
benefited from the scam.
All
three senators earlier acknowledged that they had identified agriculture
projects that were funded by their pork but denied any knowledge that an NGO
that handled the funds was a bogus organization.
The
three had asked the Department of Agriculture to shed light on how the
concerned PDAF funds released between 2009 and 2010 were actually spent.
Former
Rep. Arthur Pingoy asked where the PDAF was supposedly sourced from. He asked
for details about the JLN company and said he would have it checked.
Rep.
Victor Ortega was quoted as saying: “I have nothing to do with that. I did not
receive a single sack of fertilizer nor received a single peso from the fund
for the fertilizer. The accuser should face me and tell me personally.” He said
of Napoles: “I have never met her nor talked to her. I do not know her.”
Each
senator has a PDAF budget of P200 million annually; congressmen each have a
P70-million pork allocation, but during the Arroyo administration, favored
senators and congressmen received more than they were supposed to get.
Under
the law, the lawmakers have the sole discretion in the disposition of their
pork barrel.
Enrile,
at one time, reportedly downloaded P111 million of his PDAF to three dummy NGOs
on the same date. Of the total amount, only P35 million allegedly went to the
Napoles NGOs.
A
total of P3 billion was on the whistle-blowers’ list for the years 2006-2011.
Implementing agencies for this total amount were the National Livelihood
Development Corp. and the Technology Resource Center.
Apart from the 20
dummy organizations, the list also showed that 30 local government units were
recipients of the pork barrel. However, according to the whistle-blowers, there
were LGUs that were not aware of the funds and did not receive a single
centavo.
The whistle-blowers
also identified banks where the accounts of the bogus NGOs were deposited.
Deposits
were made in the following banks:
– Metrobank, Magdalena
branch in Binondo, Manila—Bukirin Tanglaw Foundation, Social Development Program
for Farmers Foundation, Gintong Pangkabuhayan Foundation,
Kasaganahan para sa Magsasaka Foundation, Tanglaw para sa Magbubukid Foundation,
Ginintuang Alay para sa Magsasaka Foundation, Micro-Agri Business Citizens
Initiative Foundation, Karangyaan para sa Magsasaka Foundation and Saganang Buhay
Foundation.
– Metrobank, Jose Abad
Santos branch—Philippine Agri and Social Economic Development Foundation.
– LandBank, Greenhills
branch—Social Development Program for Farmers Foundation,
MasaganangAniparasaMagsasaka Foundation and People’s Organization for Progress
and Development Foundation.
– LandBank, Department
of Education branch in Pasig City—Countrywide Agri and Rural Economic
Development Foundation, Agri and Economic Program for Farmers Foundation, Agrikultura para sa Magbubukid
Foundation, Kasaganahan para sa Magsasaka Foundation and Dalampansang Amon Utod
Foundation.
– Metrobank, Ortigas
Center branch—Kaupdanan parasa Mangunguma Foundation and Abundant Harvest for
People Foundation.
Luy,
the whistle-blower, said he also opened bank accounts in Napoles’ name and
deposited there cash taken from the NGO accounts.Among the bank accounts of
Napoles that Luy identified were UCPB Makati head office, Metrobank on Jose
Abad Santos, Ortigas and Magdalena in Binondo, MetrobankOrtigas Center for JLCN
Global Properties.
The
whistle-blowers said portions of the illegally acquired funds were deposited in
the accounts of various persons that earned interest in connivance with the Air
Materiel Wings Savings and Loan Association Inc. (SMWSLAI).
“There
are existing accounts of other people with AMWSLAI where she put the money and
withdraw them through the help of some officials there,” one of the
whistle-blowers said. “She can deposit and withdraw money from someone else’s
accounts without the knowledge of that person that his account is being used by
Napoles.”
After
the NBI winds up its investigation on the scam, for sure, many questions would
be still left unanswered.
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