Senate sets hearing on Malampaya scam next week

MANILA, Philippines - The Senate has invited Commission on Audit (COA) Chairman Ma. Gracia Pulido-Tan to its first hearing on the Malampaya Fund scam on Thursday next week.

Tan will be the first government official invited by the Senate Blue Ribbon committee when it holds its hearing on the case.

Blue Ribbon chairman Sen. Teofisto Guingona III made the announcement yesterday, two days after deciding to move from the pork barrel scam probe to the Malampaya Fund issue, which also involves businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.

Pork barrel scam whistle-blowers, mainly former employees of Napoles led by Benhur Luy, testified that non-government organizations created by Napoles also got their hands on around P900 million of the Malampaya Fund in 2009.

This involved funds that were meant for local government units hit by Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng, which were coursed through the Department of Agrarian Reform.

Whistle-blowers said the signatures of several mayors were forged by Napoles’ employees to make it appear that they received the funds when these actually went to bogus foundations.

Ruby Tuason, the former social secretary of former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, testified before the Senate that Napoles asked her if she had any contacts in Malacañang. Tuason introduced Napoles to her brother, the late Remy Chan, who reportedly ended up dealing with Napoles.

She said her brother used her house in Makati City as a pickup point for kickbacks from the transactions on the Malampaya Fund.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, one of the senators accused of plunder in the pork barrel scam, said he believes Tuason is the mastermind of the Malampaya Fund scam, which he said could be bigger than the pork barrel scam.

Estrada said he was informed that Tuason received around P242 million from the Malampaya Fund scam and the money was used to buy her house in Dasmariñas Village in Makati City, which he described as the Malampaya Mansion.

The Malampaya Fund represents the royalties of the government from the natural gas exploration project in Palawan.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago said Luy should be summoned by the Blue Ribbon committee to testify about the contents of the hard drive he used to back up the files of Napoles.