Napoles names 120 lawmakers in fund scams in expanded list

By ALFRED GABOT

MANILA — Alleged pork barrel scam queen Janet Lim Napoles has submitted her expanded 32-page affidavit in which she named 20 senators and former senators and 100 congressmen and ex-congressmen and other officials and individuals – a total of 134 of them – in the misuse of P10-billion Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and P900-million Malampaya fund.
In the same affidavit which was immediately made public, Napoles insisted she was not the most guilty and the alleged mastermind of the scams as she pleaded that the plunder case against her be dropped and she be made a state witness and that her children James Christopher Lim Napoles and Jo Christine Napoles be spared from charges filed before the Office of the Ombudsman.
“I categorically and strongly deny that I am the mastermind of the alleged PDAF or pork barrel and Malampaya fund scams as well as other projects that used government funds which I have personal knowledge,” she stated.
Napoles insisted that it was Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad, then Batanes congressman, who taught her the ins and outs of the bureaucracy in order to cash in on projects, including the organization and use of foundations as conduits of government projects.
Abad, however, vehemently denied the businesswoman’s allegation, insisting that he never dealt with her. Groups urged Abad and two other Aquino Cabinet members, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala and Director General Joel Villanueva of the Technical, Educational, Skills Development Administration (TESDA) for their involvement in the scams, but President Benigno S. Aquino III stood by them and dared the accusers to present the evidences against them.
Aside from Abad, Napoles named Technology Resource Center director general-on leave Dennis Cunanan and former presidential social secretary Ruby Chan Tuason among those who taught and guided her in the skimming of the funds..
In her affidavit, Napoles said she met Abad when he was still a congressman of Batanes through Manuel Jarmine of the Department of Agriculture in a Japanese restaurant in the Edsa Shangri-La Plaza Hotel, where she showed him a Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) and gave him P2 million.
When the Notice of Cash Allocation came out, she alleged she again gave Abad P2 million, Napoles said.
She recalled Abad asking her if she had an NGO or a cooperative. When she answered No, Abad said he would take care of it. She said Abad used Batanes Electric Cooperative to implement his projects. Later on, however, she said he returned to her P4 million with an additional P2 million.
Napoles alleged she also remembered funneling P12.3 million in Villanueva’s pork to various agencies in 2008. She said she dealt with
someonw who got the kickbacks on behalf of the former congressman.
She alleged that Tuason, who has been admitted as provisionary state witness after returning P40 million, pocketed not just P240 million in kickbacks but as much as P855 million of the P900 million supposed “commission” their group earned from the transaction involving the misuse of Malampaya funds during the Arroyo administration.
Napoles depicted Tuason as being involved in alleged bigger deals than her.
Napoles said she is willing to help the government by offering to testify “based on our personal knowledge and information,” adding that she was aware that she was putting her life in danger with her long affidavit as she decided to tell all no matter who gets hurt.
Other allies of President Aquino were implicated in the scams by Napoles in her expanded affidavit mostly written in Filipino, including Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, Senators Francis “Chiz” Escudero, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel, Loren Legarda, Manuel “Lito” Lapid and Cynthia Villar together with her husband former Senator Manny Villar, fomer senator Ramon Magsaysay Jr., former Senator Rodolfo Biazon and presidential aunt and former Senator Teresita Aquino Oreta, all of whom denied the claims of Napoles.
Cayetano, Villar and Escudero were included not for part in the fund scam but for allegedly receiving campaign funds from Napoles.
The controversial Napoles affidavit prompted the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chaired by Sen. TJ Guingona to resume its investigation of the pork barrel and Malampaya fund scams in which the senators implicated vowed to confront Napoles.
Guingona made public the expanded documents of Napoles and said: ”Let the document(s) speak for itself.”
The other senators listed by Napoles include formers senator Ma. Luisa “Loi” Estrada, former senator Robert Jaworksi, the late senator Rober Barbers; incumbent Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, Gregorio”Gringo” Honasan, Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., and Vicente “Tito” Sotto III.
Only Enrile, Revilla and Jinggoy Estrada have so far been charged withh plunder before the Ombudsman in connection with the pork barrel scam.
Former whistleblower lawyer Levito Baligod later claimed that one senator was not included by Napoles in her affidavit, although the senator has been mentioned in the past as involved in the scam.
The 100 former and incumbent congressmen on the list are Florencio “Butch” Abad, Benjamin Agarao, Rodolfo Albano, Prospero Amatong, Bellaflor Angara-Castillo, Iggy Arroyo, Mikey Arroyo, Amado Bagatsing, Leovigildo Banaag, Salacnib Baterina, Napoleon Berato, Ruffy Biazon, Marc Douglas Cagas, Leonila Chavez, Erwin Chiongbian, Joaquin Chipeco, Antonio Cuenco, Samuel Dangwa, Matias Defensor, Raul del Mar, Digaden Dilangalen, Abdullah Dimaporo, Zenaida Ducut, Glenda Ecleo,
Yevgeny Vicente Emano, Edgar Espinosa, Conrad Estrella III, Reymund Estrella, Erico Fabian, Jesnar Falcon, Peter Falcon, Florencio Flores, Arnulfo Fuentebella, Gerald Gullas, Uliran Joaquin, Constantino Jaraula, Antonio Lagdameo Jr., Rizalina Lanete Seachon, Scott Davies Lanete, Marcelino Libanan, Benasing Macarambon Jr., Sunny Rose Madamba, Eulogio Magsaysay, Corazon Malanyaon, Oscar Malapitan, Clavel Martinez, Florencio Miraflores, Anthony Miranda, Neil Benedict Montejo, Ernesto Nieva, Arrel Olano, Manuel Ortega, Victor Ortega, Ernesto Pablo, Carlos Padilla, Hussein Pangandaman, Nasser Pangandaman, Prospero Pichay, Arthur Pinggoy, Rodolfo Plaza, Herminia Ramiro, Isidro Real, Gilbert Remulla, Maximo Rodriguez, Oca Rodriguez, Rufus Rodriguez, Jurdin Jesus Romualdo, Rickey Sandoval, Vicente Sandoval, Joseph Santiago, Jose Solis, Rolex Suplico, Generoso Tulagan, Alfonso “Boy” Umali, Aurelio “Oyi” Umali, Reynaldo Umali, Isidro Ungab, Renato Unico, Edgard Valdez, Rodolfo Valencia, Eduardo Veloso, Joel Villanueva, Georgilu Yumul-Hermida, Manuel Zamora, Wilhemino Alvarado, Julieta Cortuna, Nanette Costello Daza, Recom Echieverri, Jesli Lapuz, Narciso Monfort, Rafael Nantes, Prospero Nograles, Ernesto Pablo, Maria Valentina Plaza, Antonio Roman, Jurdin Jesus Romauldo, Rodolfo San Luis and Eduardo Zialcita.
Napoles also listed individuals from various government agencies — Ofelia Agawin, Alan Umali, Proceso Alcala and Jimmy Patocabe of the Department of Agriculture; Allan Javellana and Rhodora Mendoza of National Agribusiness Corp. (Nabcor) ; Narciso Nieto and Teresita Panlilio of Department of Agriculture; (former) Sec. Mendoza, Santidad Venancio and Rene Maglanque of Department of Transportation and Communication; Alexis Sevidal of NLDC; and Antonio Ortiz and Dennis Cunanan of Technology Resource Center (TRC).
Napoles identified individuals who allegedly served as agents for the lawmakers — Bernard, Rose Palacio, Dona Senora Ruby Chan Tuazon, Lucila “Gigi” Reyes, Ted de Joya, Freddie Villamor, Butch Tuazon, Lyn and Matt Ranillo, Pauline Labayen, Atty. Danny, Dudut Jaworski, Zenaida Ducut, Catherine Mae or Maam Maya Canloas Santos, Patricia ‘Gay’ Agana Tan, Bibing Agana Villarcorta, Atty. Yacky Agana, Carlos “Caloy” Reyes, Mon Arcenas, Jewel Pimentel, Luis “Louie” Cruz, Richard Cambe, Jeniffer “Jen” Corpuz, Arman Padilla, Jun Adriano, Manuel Jarmin, Clavel Martinez, Mina Nieva, Ruth Allen Ruste, Cora Gonzales, Bebot Layug, Margie Tahon, Carlos Lozada, Maite Defensor, Cheryl “Cheche” Yarra, Dexter Manalo, Banaag Leovigildo, Alice Navales Villanueva, Luis Cruz, Johnny Roxas, Bombit dela Pena, Rafael Nantes, Julie Unico, and Maria Cristina “C3” Tuano.
Napoles said in her affidavit that she is aware that her decision to issue an affidavit would put her life in danger.
”The truth hurts… but the truth will set you free,” Napoles said in her 32-page affidavit which is mostly in Filipino.
”I’m a victim of a wrong system of our society that I thought was normal, correct and legal because it was practice for a very long time,” she added.
”My children had no knowledge, participation and involvement whatsoever in the subject cases. They had executed counter-affidavits to prove their innocence in the charges made against them,” she said.
Napoles said she is willing to help the government by offering to testify “based on our personal knowledge and information.”
Napoles said she does not have the “skill to run such a complicated scheme given by humble beginning.”
”I am only an ordinary private businesswoman. I neither have the power nor the authority to order the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to release documents as well as command the implementing agencies to choose any foundation or non-government organization (NGO),” she said.
She said decided to tell the whole truth behind the highly-publicized pork barrel scam after receiving spiritual guidance and advice from the priests, including Archbishop Socrates Villegas.
”By telling the truth, which the people have been clamoring and I have been wanting to do for a long time, I intend to help my country and work towards minimizing, if not totally eradicating corruption, so as not to put to waste these revelations,” Napoles said.
Napoles said God answered her prayer by giving her a chance to talk with De Lima.
”This bolstered my belief that indeed, telling the truth will set me free,” Napoles said.
She said she opted to remain silent during the Senate inquiry in November last year “because at that time, I was still at a loss on what to do.”
“I gave money for the campaign of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano in the election. We met for that purpose at the SLICE restaurant in Bonifacio Global City,” Napoles said.
The Slice restaurant is known to be owned and operated by the Cayetano family.
Napoles claimed she personally handed to Cayetano the unspecified amount in 2013 senatorial and local elections.
Napoles said she was introduced by Congressman Ompong Plaza to Escudero before the 2010 presidential elections inside a private room of a Chinese restaurant at EDSA Shangrila Hotel.
“Doon ako ay kinumbising financial na suportahan siya sa kanyang pagtakbo bilang presidente [There I was persuaded into giving financial support to his then bid to run for president],” Napoles said.
She added that they met again inside the Taste of LA Restaurant, months after the elections and while Escudero was sitting as a senator.
“Pinag-usapan namin ang mga proyektong na maaari niyang ibigay sa akin. Nag-abot ulit ako sa kanya ng pera ng hapong iyon ngunit walang proyektong natuloy [We discussed the projects he could give me. I handed over money again to him, though no projects got through],” Napoles said.
For her connections with Villar, Napoles said she was introduced by a certain Rene Maglanque from the Department of Transportation and Communications to a certain Jun Adriano. Maglanque of DOTC in President Gloria Arroyo’s time has since run and won as mayor of Candaba, Pampanga.
“Pinakilala ni Rene Maglanque si Jun Adriano para sa project nila sa DOTC na inahente nila sa akin. Si Jun naman pinakilala ako kay Sen. Manny Villar [Rene Maglanque introduced Jun Adriano to me for their DOTC project that they wanted me to pursue. And then Jun introduced me to Sen. Manny Villar],” Napoles said
Napoles claimed that she was only lured to engage in a scheme skimming government’s coffers by well-connected individuals such as the likes of then Batanes congressman, now Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad, Technology Resource Center director general-on leave Dennis Cunanan and former presidential social secretary Ruby Chan Tuason.
Tuason, she alleged, pocketed not just P240 million in kickbacks as earlier reported but a whopping P855 million of the P900 million supposed “commission” their group earned from the transaction involving the misuse of Malampaya funds during the Arroyo administration.
Napoles further depicted Tuason as being involved in alleged bigger deals than her, and who confessed to having engaged in misappropriating lawmakers’ Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel. Tuason was purportedly the designated “point person” of the Arroyo administration in tainted government projects amounting to P25 billion and P900 million, supposedly involving the Malampaya funds.