Sandra Cam: Drilon is Napoles’ protector in Senate
Sandra Cam. INQUIRER.net’s FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – Whistleblowers Association president Sandra Cam accused Senate President Franklin Drilon of protecting Janet Lim-Napoles from being implicated in the pork barrel scam.
In an interview over Radyo Inquirer 990AM on Friday, Cam said Drilon was protecting Napoles back in the 13th Congress when she was subpoenaed for a Senate committee inquiry on the fertilizer fund scam. The scam referred to the alleged diversion of fertilizer funds to the campaign kitty of former president Gloria Arroyo, who was later cleared from the scam.
Napoles then was tagged as the second biggest supplier of overpriced fertilizers.
“(Napoles) was subpoenaed twice by former Senator Jun Magsaysay but she never appeared, because who was the Senate President that time? It was Drilon,” Cam said in Filipino. Drilon was Senate President from 2001 to 2006.
She added that Drilon and Napoles were long-time friends. Napoles even goes abroad with Drilon’s wife, Cam said, but she didn’t mention which one. Drilon’s first wife Violeta died of lung cancer in 1995. Drilon later re-married to Mila Serrano-Genuino.
Cam said Napoles did not include Drilon in her list of pork scam beneficiaries because “she cannot afford to lose this man.” Although Napoles did not tag Drilon in her list, principal whistblower Benhur Luy included the senator in his.
“Hindi siya nakalagay sa listahan because it’s Drilon who’s doing the dirty job here, para lang makapagbigay ng immunity … kay Napoles, dahil kaibigan niyang matalik ito,” Cam said
(Drilon is not included on her list because it is he who’s doing the dirty job here, to give immunity to Napoles because they’re good friends.)
“She cannot afford to lose this man… The greatest protector of Napoles right now is the ‘bulugan’ (boar) of the Senate,” she added.
Drilon has denied Cam’s allegations, saying he only coursed his pork barrel funds to a non-government organization (NGO) that is not owned by Napoles. He also said he is willing to open his books for scrutiny.
The pork barrel scam is an elaborate scheme of diverting the now-defunct Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF) to the supposedly bogus NGOs of Napoles. Instead of reaching the beneficiaries, the funds were allegedly split among Napoles, lawmakers and officials for kickbacks.
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