‘Bong, Jinggoy handpicked NGOs’

MANILA, Philippines - Senators Ramon Revilla Jr. and Jinggoy Estrada personally handpicked non-government organizations (NGOs) and foundations that implemented their pork barrel-funded projects.

This is according to Technology Resource Center (TRC) head Dennis Cunanan, who is being considered as a state witness in the pork barrel scam allegedly masterminded by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles with the help of several lawmakers.

Cunanan said the TRC was never given a chance to choose NGOs and only the senators decided on which NGOs to tap for their projects.

In a 36-page affidavit submitted to the Department of Justice, Cunanan detailed how the two senators would handpick the NGOs of Napoles for specific projects.

Cunanan said he was still deputy director general when TRC made the questionable transactions with Revilla and Estrada.

Revilla claimed in his counter-affidavit that he did not designate or endorse any NGOs and that his participation was limited to writing endorsement letters to the Senate president and to the committee on finance chairman.

He said that it was the government implementing agencies such as the TRC that chose the NGOs that would implement his PDAF projects and as such, they were the ones liable for the disbursement of funds to the bogus NGOs of Napoles.

In his affidavit, Cunanan presented three letters sent by Revilla to the TRC regarding the release of his PDAF to the TRC in which he “expressly and categorically endorsed the Napoles-linked” NGOs Agri & Economic Program for Farmers Foundation Inc. (AEPFFI), Philippine Social Development Foundation Inc. (PSDFI) and the Social Development Program for Farmers Foundation Inc. (SDPFFI).

The first letter was dated April 10, 2007 involving P25 million of Revilla’s PDAF under SARO No. ROCS-07-05486.

In that letter, Revilla endorsed the AEPFFI as partner to TLRC, as the TRC was known then, for the implementation of projects.

He also assigned one of his staff, lawyer Richard Cambe, to represent him and act on his behalf for the project.

The second and third letters were dated Nov. 27, 2007 for P35 million under SARO No. ROCS-07-08553, and Dec. 16, 2008 for P40 million each under SARO Nos. D-08-09558 and 08-09789, respectively.

In the November 2007 letter, Revilla said that the local government unit beneficiaries had requested that the PSDFI partner with the TLRC in the implementation of the project.

“In this regard, I pose no objection and I hereby endorse their request for appropriate action. I also designate Atty. Richard Cambe, my chief political officer, to follow up, supervise and act on my behalf to ensure the proper and timely implementation of these projects,” Revilla said in the letter.

Cunanan said that the office of Revilla and the Napoles NGOs also submitted to the TRC summaries and proposals for the PDAF-funded projects wherein the specific NGOs were already identified and listed as project implementors.

He said Revilla’s letters clearly showed that the NGOs that implemented his PDAF projects were “in fact already pre-selected and identified” from the onset.

Cunanan submitted the documents, which bore the signature and conforme of Cambe signing for Revilla.

Even in the memoranda of agreement entered into by the office of Revilla with the TRC and the NGOs, Cunanan noted that it was expressly acknowledged that it was Revilla’s office that had endorsed the NGO implementors of PDAF projects.

“Thus the perambulatory or whereas clauses of the said MOAs uniformly read as follows: Whereas the Senator has endorsed the Foundation as implementor of said projects under the guidance and in partnership with the TRC,” Cunanan said.

“This express warranty of the Office of Senator Revilla is consistent with the fact that it was said office which selected and handpicked the implementing NGOs,” Cunanan said.

On Revilla’s defense that his signatures as well as those of Cambe had been forged, Cunanan said this was difficult to believe, considering that the same actions had taken place several times and over a period of many years, in a systematic manner.

Cunanan also cited a letter of Estrada to the TRC dated April 22, 2008 requesting that the SDPFFI be used as the agency’s conduit in the implementation of P25 million in PDAF projects under SARO No. ROCS-08-001698.

In the same letter, Estrada authorized his staff Pauline Labayen to “follow up, supervise, sign and act on his behalf to ensure the proper and timely implementation” of the projects.

“As can be seen from the foregoing, albeit his letter was couched in courteous language, the choice of the NGO which will implement his PDAF-funded projects was actually imposed and dictated by Sen. Estrada upon the TRC,” Cunanan said.

“The TRC was actually not given any choice. Nowhere in the subject letter did Sen. Estrada talk about vetting, accreditation or qualification of the NGO he specifically picked and named therein,” he added.

Identical format, language

In his affidavit, Cunanan pointed out that the letters, project summaries and proposals of Revilla and Estrada bore similar format and language.

He said “this clearly shows that the drafts of the said documents were apparently prepared by one and the same person or group of persons, thus supporting the theory that what happened with the PDAF-funded projects of Sens. Revilla and Estrada was part of a grand conspiracy to plunder public funds.”

He also said Revilla’s and Estrada’s claims in their respective counter-affidavits that their choice of NGOs was “merely recommendatory” were “actually an afterthought on their part.” 

Cunanan said Revilla and Estrada, as well as their representatives and even the former chief of staff of Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile, Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes, would call him to follow up requests for release of funds for projects.

“Hence the claims of Sens. Revilla and Estrada that they did not participate in the selection of the NGOs which implemented the projects funded by their respective PDAFs are utterly unbelievable,” he added.

Cunanan also disputed the claim of Enrile’s deputy chief of staff Jose Evangelista that the senator’s signatures appearing on the documents were forged.

Cunanan said that he was able to speak with Reyes over the phone and she confirmed and affirmed that she and Evangelista were authorized to sign the documents and that the signatures on the documents in the possession of the TRC were authentic.

“Likewise, the claim of Atty. Evangelista in his second letter to the COA that his signature was forged pertained only to his signatures as appearing in the liquidation documents submitted by the NGO chosen by the Office of Sen. Enrile, but not to his signatures appearing in the memorandum of agreement, project proposal, project summary, etc.,” Cunanan said.

“The same does not belie the fact that it was the office of Sen. Enrile which selected and handpicked the NGOs which implemented his PDAF-funded projects, and it is his office which guaranteed the track record of the said NGOs,” he added.

Hands off

Malacañang, meanwhile, is keeping its hands off the credibility issues being raised against Cunanan.

“When it comes to the matter of credibility, the final arbiter of a witness’ credibility would be the judge that is hearing that case,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a press briefing yesterday.

Valte said the DOJ would be “in charge of assessing his standing in reference to new information that may be coming to light so, let’s defer to them on that.”

“Legally speaking, it is the court that will approve him (Cunanan) becoming a state witness. As of the moment, he is provisionally admitted to the Witness Protection Program, which is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice,” she said.

Sen. Grace Poe earlier said they were treating the emergence of Cunanan as a state witness with caution, considering that he may have profited from the pork barrel scam.

Poe said that while she “cautiously welcomes” Cunanan’s volunteering to have his bank accounts examined, she said bank accounts would not present the entire picture of a person’s wealth and assets.

“The people, through us in the Senate, should be able to see for themselves the extent of his complicity in the scam and his real motives for coming out,” she said.

Poe, however, clarified she was not discrediting Cunanan as a state witness. In fact, Poe said she saw his value as witness since he had direct knowledge of those involved in the scam.

But she said it would be best for Cunanan to come clean and reveal everything about the pork barrel scam issue, including the kickbacks that he may have received.

“It is better that we dispel all doubts about possible kickbacks so that the case submitted to the Sandiganbayan will be strong,” Poe said.

She cited the case of another potential state witness Ruby Tuason. “At least she (Tuason) admitted to accepting a commission for her involvement. I would like to hear Cunanan’s statement in the hearing so I can be objective about it,” she said.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, for her part, downplayed a report showing alleged millions of pesos worth of undeclared properties of Cunanan.

She was referring to an ABS-CBN report on a P40-million house in a posh Quezon City subdivision and a luxury vehicle supposedly owned by Cunanan.

“I’m not sure if that (report) can be confirmed. What I know is this is probably part of the ongoing demolition job against him in an effort for undermine his credibility as a provisional state witness,” she told reporters.

Earlier, she revealed that Cunanan was “bracing himself psychologically for a demolition job.” Aurea Calica, Edu Punay