‘Luy’s secret deals angered Napoles’

MANILA, Philippines - Alleged pork barrel scam brains  Janet Lim-Napoles had reportedly ordered whistle-blower Benhur Luy detained after she discovered his secret deals with a project coordinator of Senators Loren Legarda and Ferdinand Marcos Jr., a former employee of the businesswoman revealed in court yesterday.

Taking the witness stand as the prosecution panel’s third witness in the continuing hearing of Napoles’ bail petition before the Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 150, Merlina Suñas said that she was present during an afternoon meeting on Dec. 19, 2012 at Napoles’ office at unit 2502 of the Discovery Suites condominium at Ortigas Center, Pasig City.

Also at that meeting were Napoles, Luy, Napoles’ nephew John Lim and Evelyn de Leon, another JLN employee.

Suñas recounted that Napoles had asked Luy to call someone. When Luy – a cousin and employee of Napoles – answered that he could not reach the person, Napoles allegedly grabbed his iPhone 4 and scrolled through his text messages.

Napoles reportedly got angry when she came across a text message allegedly sent to Luy by “Ma’am Maya.”

“Ma’am Maya” was later identified by Suñas as Maya Santos, who she said was a project coordinator of Legarda and Marcos and was a frequent visitor to Napoles’ office.

After reading the text message, Napoles allegedly ordered Luy detained, said Suñas.

She said Luy was then taken to the adjacent suite 2501 where he was guarded by Napoleon Sibayan, a bodyguard of Napoles.

Suñas told the court she was not able to read the text message sent by Santos that triggered Napoles’ anger.

After Luy was taken to the adjacent suite, Suñas said Napoles ordered Luy’s bag, wallet and a steel filing cabinet to be taken to her office. Napoles, her brother Reynald Lim and nephew John Lim then started rummaging through Luy’s things.

Suñas said Napoles’ brother and nephew took Luy’s two car keys. They later placed all of Luy’s belongings inside a box, which was left inside Napoles’ office.

Suñas said P40,000 cash in P1,000 bills were found inside Luy’s wallet, which were immediately seized by Napoles and ordered deposited in the bank account of JLN Corp.

Napoles also ordered another employee, Marina Sula, to call Metrobank and ask how much cash Luy kept in his savings account, Suñas added.

Suñas said Napoles found out that Luy was keeping P800,000 in his bank account. The amount was ordered transferred to JLN’s account by Napoles.

According to Suñas, she heard Napoles say “ikulong na yan” (detain him), which she presumed referred to Luy.

Suñas said Luy was still inside unit 2501 when she left Napoles’ office at about 8 p.m.

That was the last time she saw Luy, until April 2 when she saw him at the office of the National Bureau of Investigation where she was to execute a sworn affidavit.

Suñas told the court that after Luy was rescued on March 22, he called her up sometime during Holy Week and asked if she could serve as witness in the case of serious illegal detention he would be filing against Napoles.

“I was asked by him if I could testify since I knew what happened on Dec. 19, 2012,” Sunas said.

Napoles’ lawyer Lorna Kapunan tried to demolish Suñas’ credibility, saying she did not have an official employee-employer relationship with Napoles. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Jess Diaz