‘Napoles should return P2-B ‘pork’ loot sans conditions’

MANILA, Philippines - Suspected pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles should not set conditions if she really is sincere about returning P2 billion of her loot to the government, according to the lawyers of whistle-blowers.

“Hindi yun sinasabi. Ginagawa (Don’t just say it. Do it). It is not hers in the first place. She should return it ASAP without any conditions,” said Stephen Cascolan, one of the lawyers of the whistle-blowers in the scam.

“Her failure to return stolen funds at the soonest possible time should be taken against her and her family,” he said.

Lawyers Raji Mendoza and Lourdes Benipayo voiced the same position.

They were reacting to TV statements made by Napoles’ legal counsel Stephen David that she is willing to return P2 billion she had skimmed from the Priority Development Assistance Fund of lawmakers. Her lawyer claimed it was all that she had amassed from her dealings with lawmakers.

“It’s her obligation to return everything,” Mendoza said, adding that an audit should be made to determine the exact amount she is supposed to return.

Mendoza also said that for good measure, the government should freeze the remaining assets of Napoles.

“And this (return of the money) should not exculpate her from any charges,” Mendoza said.

Mendoza represents principal whistle-blower Benhur Luy while Cascolan and Benipayo represent the second-batch of whistle-blowers, namely Marina Sula, Monette Briones and Arlene Baltazar. 

Benipayo, for her part, said Napoles should return not only the amount she had amassed from the PDAF scam. She said the alleged PDAF scam mastermind should also return what she had allegedly stolen from the Malampaya Fund.

Mendoza said Napoles is making the offer possibly in the hope of getting public support or getting accepted as state witness.

“But it’s not easy to fool the Filipino people. She should be kept in jail. She would do everything to get out of detention. She’s willing to spend billions so she can do that,” Mendoza said.

Quit calls rejected

Meanwhile, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said yesterday he would not give up his post despite calls for him to resign for his alleged involvement in the pork barrel scam.

In a radio interview, Abad said administration officials could not just quit on the basis of the “baseless” accusations of Napoles.

He said he and his colleagues are being harassed into giving up their jobs.

“If we fall for that, no one will be left in government. All our critics have to do is to file a harassment complaint,” he added, citing his own case.

He said he is facing six plunder complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman.

“One case accuses me of involvement in the Malampaya Fund scam. I was not in government when the fund was allegedly misused. Another complaint links me to the 2007-2009 pork barrel scam. I was not a congressman then,” he said.

Abad reiterated his denial of Napoles’ allegations that he mentored her on how to use foundations in cornering lawmakers’ funds and implementing their projects, and that he gave her a P10-million project with Batanes Electric Cooperative (Batanelco) as fund conduit.

He said he had never dealt with nor allocated funds to Napoles or any of her bogus foundations.

Batanelco officers have also denied Napoles’ claims linking Abad and their cooperative to the pork barrel scam.

“The allegations are without factual basis,” Quirino Gabotero Jr., Victoria Mata and Wilfredo Cabitac, president, general manager and past president, respectively, of Batanelco said in a joint statement.

They said it was the National Electrification Administration (NEA) that gave them a total of P9.1 million on Jan. 13, 2000 for various rural electrification projects.

They said the funds “were directly downloaded to Batanelco as financial subsidy without a SARO (special allotment release order, which is a Department of Budget and Management fund release document).”

They said the projects were duly implemented by their cooperative, inspected by NEA and audited by the Commission on Audit.

“Batanelco was never a recipient of a P10-million fund with SARO, contrary to the allegation of Janet Napoles,” they added.

However, they pointed out that Abad and his province’s electric cooperative “have been collaborating since 1989 to provide stable and adequate electricity supply to the people of Batanes.”

“To this day, there has never been an instance where irregularities and anomalies were committed,” they stressed.

New quit call

But as Abad made clear he is not stepping down, a group of civil society organizations is joining calls for his and Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala’s resignation.

In a statement, the Abolish Pork Movement – through spokesperson Monet Silvestre – called on Filipinos to hold gatherings in public places on June 12 “to express indignation over the Aquino government’s continuing disregard for justice and accountability.”

The group claimed that Aquino knew all along the alleged involvement of his allies in the pork barrel scam but failed to act on the matter. – Jess Diaz,Janvic Mateo