Whistle-blowers tag ex-Cabinet man in Malampaya scam

MANILA, Philippines - A former Cabinet secretary has been implicated in the alleged misuse of Malampaya gas funds.

Levito Baligod, lawyer of Benhur Luy and other whistle-blowers, said yesterday his clients have mentioned an official in the previous administration with the level of secretary in a statement to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

“They mentioned a name but we cannot reveal just yet,” he said. “All we can say at this point is that the official was in the department level.”

Online news portal Rappler reported that former agrarian reform secretary Nasser Pangandaman and two other officials, Narciso Nieto and Teresita Panlilio, were involved in the Malampaya mess.

Baligod said Luy and other whistle-blowers bared that they had used the same scheme in the pork barrel racket in Malampaya allegedly upon orders of Janet Lim-Napoles.

“The scheme is the same as in the PDAF scam – only minus the legislators,” he said.

Baligod said his clients have already submitted to the NBI records and documents pertaining to the Malampaya fund racket.

Probers are still assessing whether the documents would suffice for the filing of charges before the Office of the Ombudsman, he added.

Baligod said the NBI is readying charges of malversation of public funds against these people.

However, Baligod said the information of whistle-blowers as to whether lawmakers and other officials benefited from the Malampaya scam is limited.

“Only Mrs. Napoles would know if there are kickbacks or not,” he said.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the NBI is expected to file the charges before the anti-graft agency within the week.

Baligod said the whistle-blowers will abide by the subpoena of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee for the hearing tomorrow.

However, his clients would have to limit their testimonies to the supposed illegal scheme itself, and not the personalities implicated in the case, he added.

Baligod said the purpose of the Senate probe is in aid of legislation to recover stolen public funds and prevent the schemes from happening again.

“But if the questioning would lead to liability or culpability of personalities involved in the anomaly, the whistle-blowers cannot answer them out of respect to the ombudsman and also to confidentiality of its proceedings,” he said.