Witness names 5 lawmakers who endorsed ‘pork’ to NGOs

Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Senator  Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. himself has  allegedly signed documents endorsing the use of his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to non-government organizations through Zamboanga Rubber Estate Corp (ZREC), a witness told the Senate on Thursday.

Testifying before the blue ribbon committee, assistant secretary Salvador Salacup, former head of ZREC, said he recalled seeing the name of Revilla who actually signed the endorsement letters to several NGOs.

“I recall because he [Revilla] only had one project,”  Salacup  told the committee.

But Salacup later clarified that the funds that were coursed through ZREC went to Pangkabuhayan Foundation, which was not linked to Janet Lim-Napoles, who allegedly masterminded the “pork barrel” scam involving the channeling of the funds to fake NGOs.

The two other senators who allegedly coursed their PDAF to ZREC were Senate Minority Leader  Juan Ponce-Enrile  and  Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada  athough their endorsement letters were signed  by representatives.

But Salacup said there was one “communication” from the office of Estrada signed by the senator himself.

He said there was also a letter signed by  a certain  Attorney Lucila  Reyes.

Aside from the two senators,   Salacup  also identified  a certain “Congressman Valdez “ and “Buhay Partylist Representative Velarde”  who  endorsed their PDAF to  the  questionable organizations through ZREC.

Both Valdez and Velarde, he said, signed their endorsement letters to the NGOs.

Agriculture Secretary  Proceso Alcala also took the witness stand but apologized to the committee,  saying he had no knowledge  about the issue.

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