DOJ chief denies sanitizing rap sheet

MANILA, Philippines - Justice Secretary Leila de Lima yesterday denied that she “sanitized” the list of local government officials tagged by Janet Lim-Napoles in the P900-million Malampaya fund scam.

“To me, that is foul, malicious and irresponsible,” she told reporters in an ambush interview, referring to a report of The STAR that cited a portion of the unsigned 30-page affidavit of Napoles submitted by rehabilitation czar Panfilo Lacson to the Senate Blue Ribbon committee earlier this week.

In the document, Napoles allegedly claimed: “Later on, I found out that no one from the ninety seven (97) mayors was included in the charge sheet by the Department of Justice because Atty. Levito Baligod interviewed each mayor involved and promised their exclusion in the cases provided that they will support the candidacy in Senate of the DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima.”

A visibly irate De Lima said the document is obviously “hearsay.”

“It’s supposed to be contained in an unsigned purported affidavit, that’s why I expressed my disappointment why that kind of paper was released,” she said.

She said pork scam whistle-blower Benhur Luy, among other whistle-blowers, had testified that the 97 mayors were victims because their signatures on documents linking them to the scam were forged.

Even the mayors earlier invited by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said their signatures were forged, she added.

De Lima said Baligod, who was earlier accused of talking with the mayors, likewise denied the insinuation.

“Everybody denied and their signatures were really just forged. So what is this allegation? Why am I in the center?” she asked.

Napoles’ firm, JLN Corp., allegedly forged the mayors’ signatures so Napoles could get some P900 million in Malampaya gas funds supposedly meant to help the constituents of the mayors affected by Tropical Storm Ondoy and Typhoon Pepeng in 2009.

De Lima believes that she is being attacked for investigating the pork barrel scam.

“Let’s be responsible. That is no joke. I am the one investigating, why am I being destroyed? Let me do my job,” she said.

Not sanitized

A unit in the NBI, which led the investigation into the P900-million Malampaya Fund scam, also disputed the report.

“We based our investigation on the affidavits of the mayors and whistle-blowers, who all admitted that (the camp of Janet Lim-Napoles) forged the signatures of the local government heads,” said Special Investigator III Federico Criste, spokesman for the NBI’s Special Task Force.

He said Luy and Merlina Suñas disclosed during the investigation last year that they forged the letters of request and signatures on behalf of the mayors. They said the names of the alleged beneficiaries were randomly picked from various lists, such as the passers’ lists of the Philippine Regulatory Commission. – With Aie Balagtas See