ERC chair, Ranillo, socialite, Arroyo lawyer summoned to 'pork' probe

MANILA, Philippines - Alleged agents for businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles, including Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) chairperson Zenaida Ducut and a lawyer for First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, were summoned to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on the "pork barrel" scam.

During the Senate proceedings on Thursday, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV moved to issue subpoenas to Ducut, lawyer Jess Santos, actor Mat Ranillo III and socialite Justa Tantoco.

Ducut was dragged into the scandal by whistleblower Benhur Luy, who claimed that the ERC official also worked as a conduit for the alleged funds scam mastermind and delivered kickbacks to undisclosed principals in government.

"Si Ma'am Ducut po, sa ERC. Naging agent po namin siya," Luy said, answering Trillanes' question on whether there are other personalities involved in the malversation scheme.

Ducut allegedly received 5 percent of the kickbacks from Napoles' ghost projects. The authorizing lawmakers, meanwhile, allegedly received the lion's share of at least 40 percent, Luy had testified.

Meanwhile, new whistleblower Ruby Tuason recalled that Santos could be the main or indirect principal of her late brother, Remy, who acted as a "go-between" for Napoles.

Remy would receive money in their house from Napoles' employees under JLN Corporation, Tuason said.

Luy similarly recalled that Ranillo delivered "commission" to Sen. Jinggoy Estrada. Ranillo and Estrada, both former show business personalities, are said to be friends.

The lead whistleblower said that Napoles gave Ranillo a Ford E-150 van as a gift for acting as her agent.

"Hindi naman mababayaran ni sir Mat yung sasakyan agad, so sinabi ibawas na lang po sa komisyon," Luy said.

Tuason said during the hearing that the residence of Tantoco in Dasmarinas Village in Makati City, was also used as a receiving site for the huge amounts of money from Napoles for Estrada.

Tuason, however, said that she does not know whether Tantoco was working with Napoles. Tantoco is a family friend of the Estradas.

"It was only the residence of Justa Tantoco, I'm not sure if she is an agent," she said.

Senator Nancy Binay, meanwhile, reiterated her earlier request to the committee to subpoena some officials of the Department of Budget and Management tagged in earlier hearings.

"May I remind the committee that I have moved to subpoena some officials of the DBM, but until now, six months later, they have never attended the hearing," she said.