‘De Lima sanitized Malampaya scam charge sheet’

MANILA, Philippines - Ninety-seven mayors became recipients of a portion of the Malampaya Fund siphoned off under a scheme operated by Janet Lim-Napoles, but no one was charged after promising to support Justice Secretary Leila de Lima when she seeks a Senate seat.

This is one of the allegations in the unsigned 30-page affidavit of Napoles that typhoon rehabilitation head Panfilo Lacson turned over the other day to the Senate Blue Ribbon committee along with a list of lawmakers allegedly implicated by the businesswoman in the pork barrel scam.

The draft affidavit also pointed to socialite Ruby Tuason, who is turning state witness in the pork barrel scam, as well as Medy Poblador, personal secretary of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo when she was president, as the Palace conduits in the alleged release of P900 million from the Malampaya Fund in November 2009 that was used for the election campaign in 2010.

De Lima and Malacañang officials have dismissed unsigned affidavits as useless scraps of paper.

The unsigned affidavit, made public by the Blue Ribbon committee, states: “Later on, I found out that no one from the ninety seven (97) mayors was included in the charge sheet by the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) because Atty. Levito Baligod (“Atty. Baligod”) interviewed each mayor involved and promised their exclusion in the cases provided that they will support the candidacy in Senate of the DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima.”

The DOJ chief has said Tuason, who served as social secretary of Joseph Estrada when he was president, is not yet off the hook on the Malampaya Fund scam.

Poblador, who also served at Malacañang during the presidency of Corazon Aquino, played a role in the “Hello, Garci” poll fraud scandal involving Arroyo and election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano. She also reportedly paid for a much-criticized pricey steak dinner for Arroyo and a large entourage at Bobby Van’s Steakhouse in Washington in 2009.

The release of portions of the Malampaya Fund to the mayors was supposed to help finance local operations in the run-up to the 2010 presidential elections. Napoles did not identify the 97 mayors.

In the affidavit, Napoles pointed to Tuason as her contact to facilitate the release of funds. Napoles said she heard Tuason following up the transactions at the Palace for the release of the Malampaya funds.

“During the entire transaction, whenever I requested Ruby to follow up the documentation of the projects, I often hear her talking to a certain Medy Poblador,” Napoles said.

Tuason was married to the late Butch Tuason, first cousin of former first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo. 

The Malampaya Fund represents the royalties of the government from the natural gas exploration project in Palawan.

Whistle-blowers in the pork barrel scam said the signatures of several mayors were forged by Napoles’ employees to make it appear that they received the funds when in fact the money went to the bogus foundations of Napoles.

Her unsigned affidavit includes a portion called “the truth about Malampaya Fund,” which was also the subject of the Office of the Ombudsman’s case number C-C-13-0357 filed by the National Bureau of Investigation against Mrs. Arroyo.

Napoles recalled that Tuason approached her sometime in November 2009. Tuason reportedly said she could tap some funds from Malacañang to propel the bids of administration bets during the elections.

“Later, I found out that the money came from the Malampaya Fund,” Napoles narrated.

She claimed Tuason asked for a 60 percent commission for their projects, using the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) as an implementing agency.

Since Tuason was taking care of the “shares” of other parties in the P900-million Malampaya deal, Napoles said she agreed to the 60-40 commission sharing. 

Napoles got a five percent commission while 35 percent went to production costs.

“Ruby was the one who provided me the list of 97 mayors and their respective municipalities. Ruby Tuason was very adamant to make sure that everything be done in a rush,” Napoles said.

She noted that Tuason even directed her to deliver the cash to the local mayors because “they wanted funds for their election campaign.”

Napoles said she initially rejected the proposal but later went ahead, to recover the “investment” that she had advanced.

“There is an urgent need to release the Malampaya Fund before the end of the year because of the 2010 elections. We are also pressured to do it considering that we have given the advance payment of 60 percent commission agreed upon,” she explained.

Napoles also revealed that Tuason, from her commissions, was able to build a house along Mahogany Street in Dasmariñas Village, Makati worth P300 million.

Tuason was also instrumental in the allocation of some P50 million to P300 million in congressional project insertions, Napoles claimed. She said she met Tuason through the latter’s late husband. 

Napoles’ statement supported an earlier speech of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada casting doubt on Tuason’s credibility and urging prosecutors to probe her role in the Malampaya Fund mess.

Estrada and his colleagues Juan Ponce Enrile and Ramon Revilla Jr. are facing plunder charges in connection with the pork barrel scam.