MANILA, Philippines - She owns only three houses and seven vehicles, contrary to reports; she has less than P10 million deposited in banks, and her mother’s mausoleum cost less than P10 million.
And even if a property in Forbes Park may be listed in her husband’s name, Janet Lim-Napoles does not consider herself rich, but merely living in average style – “tama lang sa buhay.â€
This was Napoles’ reply when Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano asked if she considered herself to be rich.
Previous reports listed 28 real properties that she reportedly owns along with hundreds of vehicles, based on records of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Among the properties in the list were a condominium unit at the upscale Ritz Carlton in the United States, a house in Forbes Park and an entire floor at the Discovery Suites in Pasig City.
Even her mother’s mausoleum at the Heritage Park in Taguig City was said to have cost P30 million.
During her questioning of Napoles, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago cited a report of the Department of Justice that Napoles’ JLN Corp. owns 30 vehicles.
She said another report stated that Napoles has 415 accounts in 17 different banks.
Santiago said that she was amazed that Napoles became rich over a short period of time, adding that it was remarkable that she was able to turn her life around even without a college degree because she got married early.
Napoles said she started a shipyard business, which was subcontracted by Korean shipbuilders, in Cebu in the 1980s. She then entered into a coal mining business with an Indonesian businessman after a decade.
Asked by Sen. Francis Escudero about how much the coal business was bringing in, Napoles said an average of $10 million per shipment to China per month.
Escudero, however, noted that JLN Corp. only generated an annual income of P21,000 to P100,000 from 2004 to 2011. He said the company also posted a loss of P343,000 last year.