Witness in fertilizer scam not detained – lawyer

MANILA, Philippines -The supposed witness against a supplier in the P728 million fertilizer fund scam was not detained but refused to be rescued by the National Bureau of Investigation as shown by CCTV footage from the condominium of the supplier, a lawyer said Monday.

During the first preliminary investigation, lawyer Freddie Villamor, counsel for Reynaldo Lim, submitted a March 22 CCTV footage of the lobby of the Pacific Plaza Towers. The witness, Benhur Luy, was rescued by the NBI on March 22.

“It will show that the victim resisted being rescued and that he was not kidnapped,” Villamor told Senior State Prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera.

Luy is an employee of JLN Group of Companies of siblings Janet Lim-Napoles and her brother Reynaldo Lim.

JLN Group of Companies allegedly oversaw the implementation of several government-funded projects like the alleged Fertilizer Scam, Malampaya Fund Scam, and the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

Luy was rescued by the NBI on March 22 after four months in captivity inside Pacific Plaza Tower, Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

Villamor also presented six witnesses, the CCTV operator and security guards to testify that there was no illegal detention.

But Luy’s lawyer Levito Baligod said his client resisted only because he was told that the NBI was there to arrest him and that he will be taken straight to jail.

Lim failed to appear during the preliminary investigation because he underwent an angioplasty surgery last April 10 at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig.

Navera said he will go to St. Luke’s on April 19 to oversee Lim’s subscribing on his affidavit denying the allegation of illegal detention.

The next preliminary investigation will be on April 24.