2 more pork scam whistle-blowers to surface
MANILA – Two more whistle-blowers are set to surface and shed light on the alleged P10 billion pork barrel scam, lawyer Levito Baligod said Monday. Baligod, who represents 10 of the whistle-blowers, did not provide additional details about the new whistle-blowers. He said whistle-blowers in the pork scam welcomed the surrender of businesswoman and alleged pork scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles. He said the case can now go to trial and both parties can prove their case in court. Baligod rejected calls that Napoles be made a state witness so that she can testify against lawmakers who benefited from the scam. “The evidence that we have is enough to convict Mrs. Napoles and the co-conspirators,” he said. “It takes two to tango. Without a Napoles, hindi makakakuha itong legislators. Without the legislators, walang makukuha si Mrs. Napoles. They are principals by indispensable cooperation. One can’t live without the other, work without the other,” he said in an ANC interview. At least 10 whistle-blowers on the pork barrel scam, including primary whistle-blower Benhur Luy, are accusing Napoles of setting up fake non-government organizations (NGOs) to pocket pork barrel funds from certain lawmakers, who in turn allegedly got huge cuts from the deal with the businesswoman. Digital copies of Napoles transactions The lawyer said Luy has digital files of Napoles’ transactions from 2003-2010. Luy, a distant cousin of Napoles, served as the businesswoman’s personal assistant in the JLN Group of Companies since 2002. Baligod said Luy earned as much as P45,000 monthly while employed by JLN, with additional commissions of up to P200,000. In the interview, the lawyer said Luy kept daily accounting entries from 2003-2010 detailing “every financial transaction between and among the foundations Mrs. Napoles owned and controlled and some legislators." He said all the documentary evidence was kept in Discovery Center in Ortigas. A new witness, however, said Napoles ordered all the documents linking her to the fake NGOs to be destroyed. “Unwittingly, they destroyed the originals of the documents. Under the rules of court, secondary evidence will replace the primary evidence and those documents are with Benhur. It is in his electronic file,” Baligod said. The lawyer said Luy has almost 3,000 pages of the alleged transactions with details of account numbers, check numbers and the amounts. He said forensic analysis will prove that the digital files were created years ago and were not altered or tampered. “You cannot commit that to human memory so ako naniniwala these entries were made in the natural course of employment,” he said. Baligod said an investigation by the Anti-Money Laundering Council on the bank records of Mrs. Napoles will be crucial in confirming if the transactions and account numbers are correct. “Sinabi ni Benhur na on this day, the account of this foundation was debited in the amount of P1 million and credited to the account of x legislator. Nandoon yung account name and account number so ima-match lang natin yan sa record na makukuha ng AMLC,” he said. “Can you imagine a legislator receiving a check from the foundation?” he added. Baligod said lawmakers linked to the scam received both checks and cash from Napoles. “It has gone to the extent that it already insults our sense of decency. Itong mga legislators natin na ganito na dapat sana manilbihan ay ganito pala ang ginagawa sa atin,” he said.