Senators question Cunanan's credibility

MANILA, Philippines - Senators on Thursday tested the credibility of latest pork scam whistleblower Dennis Cunanan, the director general of the Technology Research Center (TRC) who allegedly signed checks and vouchers disbursing millions in government funds to bogus non-government organizations.

In the 10th Senate hearing on the P10-billion priority development assistance fund (PDAF) scam, Senator Francis Escudero pointed out discrepancies between whistleblower Benhur Luy and Cunanan's sworn statements.

Luy said Cunanan received P960,000 from businesswoman and alleged pork scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles when he went to JLN Corp. Cunanan denied receiving kickbacks, however.

"Kung may natanggap po ako, hindi naman po ako siguro ako pipirma. Kung meron po ako, bakit 'di ko aminin ngayon sa posisyon ko?" Cunanan said.

Senator JV Ejercito, speaking to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, expressed his concern over accused individuals applying as state witnesses whenever a crime is being investigated.

"'Pag may ginawang krimen, magiging state witness na lang at maaabswelto. Sana 'di ganun ang mangyari," he said.

Cunanan is facing plunder charges for his involvement in the scam and is the seventh witness to surface against those involved in the crime. He is the second witness after Ruby Tuason to be granted 'provisional' admission to the witness protection program pending the approval of the Office of the Ombudsman. De Lima said charges against the initial five witnesses have been dropped.

Senator Sonny Angara asked De Lima why they admitted Cunanan to the witness protection program, and the Justice Secretary said there is no other direct testimony available.

Cunanan admitted that a total of P590 million in pork money was coursed through TRC when he was deputy director general, and he communicated with representatives of Senators Bong Revilla, Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile in coursing the money to non-government organizations chosen by the senators. In answering questions by Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, he added that he called the offices of the lawmakers to verify the senators' signatures. He added that the Commission on Audit sent letters to Revilla and Enrile to verify their signatures and they confirmed they were authentic.

Cunanan insisted on his innocence, however, saying that he was only doing his job in approving the checks and vouchers and he had no idea in the ongoing scam.

Senator Grace Poe criticized Cunanan's seemingly dubious educational background, when his profile page in the TRC website did not note that he dropped out of the University of the Philippines and went to another college.

Poe added that in an earlier interview, Cunanan said he had nothing to do with the PDAF scam, but in later testimonies admitted to signing vouchers but only in a 'ministerial' capacity. She said Cunanan also did not admit that he met with Napoles before, contrary to what Luy said.

Speaking to De Lima, Poe said she is concerned about surfacing witnesses eroding the credibility of other witnesses.

"The last thing we need is for a witness to poke holes on another star witness’ testimony," Poe said.

In response, De Lima said the Department of Justice is careful in choosing who to admit in the witness protection program.

"We cannot guarantee 100 percent credibility, but we know how to gauge if a story is plausible," De Lima said.

Senator Teofisto Guingona III, chair of the Blue Ribbon Committee, said Cunanan's testimony will be checked against what the other witnesses have already said.

In a press briefing after the hearing, the media asked Guingona if either Cunanan or Luy can be charged with perjury once either of them is proven lying, given their conflicting statements.

"Filing a perjury now is extremely premature," Guingona said, adding that De Lima, Luy and Cunanan will still have to sit down and settle the differences between the two witnesses' testimonies.