Cayetano urges deeper probe into Malampaya fund scam

MANILA, Philippines - Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano said Saturday that probing deeper into the P900-million Malampaya fund scam may reveal businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles' influence in government.

“P900 million ang pinag-uusapan dito. Sinabi ni Ms. Tuason na may P240 million na inihatid sa bahay niya. Meron na rin daw hawak ang COA na report dito. So why not expose this to the public para gumana na rin ang gulong ng hustisya? Ayon sa COA report, napakarami pang NGOs,” Cayetano said in a statement.

The senator believes that the P10-billion pork barrel fund scam may just be a "tip of the iceberg" and the Malampaya fund scam may lead the Senate to the "complete picture of [Napoles'] operations in other government funds."

Cayetano, meanwhile, reiterated his call to President Benigno Aquino III to pluck out from the government the personalities who have been tagged by whistleblowers in the fund scams.

He said Manuel Jarmin, the acting director of the Livestock Development Council of the Department of Agriculture, was mentioned by pork scam whistleblower Benhur Luy

Luy had testified that he and Napoles were introduced to former National Agribusiness Corporation (NABCOR) president Allan Javellana by Jarmin, who is listed as a nominee of an admitted Napoles partylist group Samahan ng mga Mangangalakal sa Ikauunlad ng Ekonomiya (SMILE) in 2007.

Jarmin is also an incorporator of Jimmy's Bar and Grill and Reserval 08, both corporations of Napoles’s husband, Jimmy, the senator said.

Cayetano has filed Resolution No. 271, asking the Senate Blue Ribbon committee to also look into the Malampaya funds scam.

The funds scam involves P900-million in government funds that were allocated to aid farmers affected by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng in 2009. The funds, however, went into pockets of unscrupulous government officials and private individuals.

“Dapat ipakita natin sa tao na wala tayong sasantuhin dito. Administrasyon man o oposisyon. Para yung mga reporma natin sa Ombudsman at sa DOJ (Department of Justice) ay magawa,” Cayetano said.