MANILA, Philippines - Digital records of pork barrel transactions kept by whistle-blower Benhur Luy – including those he had deleted but were retrieved by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) – are now in the possession of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee.
NBI Director Virgilio Mendez turned over yesterday the digital files to committee chairman Sen. Teofisto Guingona III in compliance with a subpoena issued by the panel.
The files, saved in a digital video disc (DVD), reportedly contain records of names and transactions copied by Luy from a computer in the office of his former boss Janet Lim-Napoles.
The committee was supposed to provide copies of the DVD to the Senate media yesterday but decided to reset the distribution to today because of technical glitches that made the process of reproducing copies cumbersome.
Mendez said a printed copy of the files was submitted earlier to the Office of the Ombudsman and used as evidence in the plunder complaint filed against Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr.
Mendez said the contents of the hard drive provided by Luy consisted of 31,742 pages of Microsoft Word and Excel documents.
NBI cybercrime division head Ronald Aguto said their computer forensics examiners were able to recover files deleted from the hard drive.
He did not disclose details but said everything is covered in the report contained in the disc.
“We retrieved files that were deleted and part of the report were those retrieved and the contents,†Aguto said.
Aguto said that the NBI was able to secure the hard drive of Luy sometime in December last year or early January this year, around eight months after a newspaper claimed to have received a copy from the relatives of Luy.
Mendez and Aguto would not confirm if the contents of the drive in their possession were the same as those published by the newspaper.
Guingona said that the committee would review the digital files and discuss how to go about its promised investigation.
“We’re in the process of collecting data, whatever is out there. Then we will collate it, evaluate it, analyze it. Then after that, we will consult with the members of the committee for their ideas as to how to go about this and then we will call the hearing,†Guingona said.
He said that he sees no need to compare the details in the disc with those published by the newspaper as he deemed the one submitted by the NBI as the official copy.
“Now if there will be any deviations between what is officially submitted and what is there inside the Inquirer, then this one stands because this is the official, officially submitted to us,†Guingona said.
“Now in the spirit of transparency again, in the spirit of openness so that the interest of the public may be served, we are going to divulge the contents of this, first to our fellow senators, then to the public via the media,†he added.
Guingona also said his committee would issue a subpoena for Napoles’ reported “red book†only after confirming its existence.
Luy’s former lawyer Levito Baligod earlier claimed that Napoles’ red book – to which the whistle-blowers had no access – contains her own records of the transactions she had with various legislators.
Luy’s digital files, meanwhile, reportedly contain more names of legislators than what Napoles had revealed in her sworn expanded affidavit.
Beware
Senators implicated by Napoles in the pork barrel scam, meanwhile, cautioned the public against immediately believing her claims in her expanded affidavit.
Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano said Napoles was trying to present herself as a credible source of information at the expense of the lawmakers pushing for her prosecution so she could be tapped as state witness.
“She wants to present all of the politicians as evil, including those who are investigating her. She wants the anger of the people to shift to us so that her (application for) immunity will be accepted,†he said.
“What she wants is for me to go on the defensive and stop investigating her. So she should just come here and provide details so that the truth will come out,†he added.
He said Napoles should not qualify as a state witness because she is the most guilty in the scam.
Cayetano also denounced Napoles for accusing him of receiving funds for a certain project.
“I absolutely deny that I have any dealings with Napoles. When it comes to me, she has no details,†Cayetano said.
Sen. Francis Escudero said Napoles’ allegations in her affidavit need thorough scrutiny as they are apparently meant to sow confusion.
“As the lists multiply in number and the lists themselves grow longer, we should ask ourselves who the real victims are in the confusion sowed by Ms. Napoles and those who supposedly want to shed light on the pork barrel scam,†Escudero said.
“Those who have been unfairly dragged into this mess are not the real victims; these lists and affidavits are baseless and lack the kind of evidentiary support that can establish cases against many of those who have been named, myself included,†he added.
He denied allocating any of his Priority Development Assistance Fund or budgetary incentives to any fictitious non-government organizations set up by Napoles.
He also denied having received any campaign funds from Napoles.
“Let’s keep our eye on the ball and remain vigilant to ensure the conviction of those who truly deserve to be punished for the misuse of public funds. Let us persuade our authorities to focus on evidence, testimonial or otherwise, that has probative value to avoid distractions,†Escudero said.
“I have judiciously allocated my PDAF to accredited government agencies and local government units as prescribed by law,†Sen. Loren Legarda, for her part, said.
“I allocated my PDAF to 300 classrooms worth P150 million, financial assistance to indigents during disasters through DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development), the National Museum’s Hibla and Baybayin galleries, medical assistance in PGH (Philippine General Hospital) and other government hospitals, scholarships in SUCs (state universities and colleges), livelihood assistance to schools of living traditions of indigenous peoples, financial assistance to farmers and rural folks, among many others,†she added. – With Paolo Romero