ShareThisArrest orders out for Napoles, brother in P10-billion scam
QUEZON CITY (PinoyNews) — Billions of pesos of so-called pork barrel fund of senators and congressmen and other government agencies have been misused over the years, according to the Commission on Audit (COA).
Also, COA said in its special audit report that there could have been favoritism in the release of the pork barrel funds as at least 74 lawmakers got more than what were alloted to them with one congressman, former Rep. Manuel Zamora of Compostela Valley, even receiving more than P3.2 billion in three years when the amount should have been P210 million only.
Senators are entitled to P200 million pork barrel each every year or P1.2 billion for a term of six years each while congressmen are entitled to P70 million every year of P210 million for a full three-year term.
Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile got the biggest pork barrel among senators totalling P904 million for the period, followed by Sen. Edgardo Angara, P862 million, Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr., P853 million; Sen. Jose Estrada, P825 million; and Sen. Miriam Santiago, P552 million.
The expose came on the heels of the issuance of warrants of arrest for businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles and her brother, Reynald “Jojo” Lim, in connection with an abduction and illegal detention case filed by a relative and associate, Benhur Luy, who turned whistleblower on a P10-billion pork barrel scam.
Napoles is the alleged “brains” behind the P10-billion pork barrel scam involving the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of at least six senators and about 100 congressmen which allegedly turned out into fake foundations and organizations and then kited into the private accounts of the businesswoman.
The P10-billion pork barrel scam allegedly engineered by Napoles triggered calls for the abolition of the fund even as Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle called for a thorough investigation as he chided the lawmakers for abandoning the poor and the needy despite their billions of pork barrel funds.
Cardinal Tagle had urged solons and others involved in the alleged crime to repent, describing the pork barrel scam as an “intricate web of corruption,” perpetrated by the alleged mastermind of the bogus deal, Janet Lim-Napoles.
Justice Secretary Leila M. De Lima has deployed units of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to arrest Napoles and her brother even as she appealed to the public to help in the search.
De Lima also made public at least 28 vehicles, some of them expensive, of Napoles and their plates so the public can report on their whereabouts to the authorities.
At press time, Napoles and her brother have eluded arrest even as NBI agents and police scoured their many houses, condo units and offices, triggering suggestions that P2 million be offered for each of them as prize for those who may have information and lead to their arrest.
The P2 million reward money was also offered for the arrest of the so-called “Big Five”, including retired Army Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, Jr.; former Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes and Globe Asiatique president and owner Delfin Lee. Palparan, Reyes and Lee, however, have not been arrested up to now.
The Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 150 issued the arrest order against Napoles and Lim for the case of serious illegal detention of Benhur Luy, the whistleblower in the scam.
The NBI is currently on an intensified nationwide manhunt of Napoles.
COA chairman Grace Pulido-Tan disclosed in a hastily called press conference on Friday that the misuse of billions of pesos of the so-called pork barrel by lawmakers and other government agencies was uncovered during a special audit of the funds from 2007 to 2009.
The special audit clearly showed irregularities in the use of the PDAF ranging from excessive pork barrel allocations, overpricing to ghost deliveries and ghost beneficiaries, said Tan.
Pulido-Tan told reporters the irregularities became possible because of a combination of corruption and the failure of national government agencies, lawmakers’ offices, and lapses by the Department of Budget and Management itself, which did not follow its own rules in some cases.
She said that her agency is already in the process of issuing notices of disallowance, a process that she said could take one year.
Some of the key findings of the special audit which took nearly two years to complete include:
1. Dozens of lawmakers received PDAF beyond their respective allocations.
Senators are each given P200 million in pork barrel funds every year while congressmen receive P70 million each.
2. Some funds were released for projects outside of a congressman’s legislative district or sector.
3. One non-lawmaker, a certain “Luis Abalos,” received P20 million PDAF and no agency could explain how this happened.
4. No endorsement from the agencies for which the funds were released, which violates the DBM’s own rules.
“The releases were essentially at the behest of the sponsoring legislator. The agencies merely relied on endorsement of legislators. The money was given to the agencies and the agencies gave it to the NGOs,” Pulido-Tan said.
5. Of the 82 NGOs covered by audit, many had dubious addresses; some were traced to shanties, or just the home addresses of some members.
6. The delivery of goods and services by NGOs, amounting to billions of pesos, were not made through public bidding.
7. Many NGOs used the same suppliers usually for purchase of agriculture products; some suppliers denied transacting with NGOs while some admitted selling seedlings and other products but denied that the transactions reached millions of pesos.
8. Some suppliers had no business permits when COA checked with respective LGUs.
9. P123 million of funds were used to pay salaries of workers in NGOs
10. Many projects were deficient, overpriced, lacked specifications and subject to split contracts.
11. 54 projects costing P154 million were constructed on private lots, with no evidence that the lots were turned over to government.
12. There were also cases when the list of beneficiaries was taken from the list of those who took the Board Exam.
Pulido-Tan said her agency would leave it up to “investigating agencies, specifically the Office of the Ombudsman and Department of Justice,” to pursue the cases and file charges.