Senate panel orders DOJ, NBI to submit Luy's digital files

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee has issued a subpoena requiring the Department of Justice and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to turn over the hard drive of pork barrel scam whistle-blower Benhur Luy.

Senator Teofisto Guingona, committee chairman, signed the subpoena ordering Justice Secretary Leila De Lima and NBI Director Virgilio Mendez to submit to the Senate panel a copy of Luy's hard drive that he submitted to the NBI.

Luy's hard drive reportedly contains the digital files of Luy detailing businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles' transactions with lawmakers and other government officials.

A series of newspaper reports based on these digital files implicated more officials in the pork barrel scam other than Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr. who had been indicted for plunder.

Luy, a former employee of Napoles, accused the businesswoman of conniving with the three senators and other officials in funneling pork barrel funds to her bogus non-government organizations in exchange for kickbacks.

The Blue Ribbon Committee issued a subpoena last week compelling Luy to surrender his hard drive before May 21.

But according to reports, Luy's camp referred the subpoena instead to the NBI cybercrime division which is in possession of the hard drive. - Louis Bacani and Christina Mendez