Anti-crime NGO got money from Napoles

THELMA Chiong of the Crusade Against Violence in the Visayas said she received small amounts from Janet Lim Napoles but had no idea at the time that the donations came from pork barrel anomalies.

Chiong’s sister, Cheryl Jimenea, had worked for Napoles as her consultant.

Chiong said Napoles would donate money for the Crusade Against Violence but the amounts were at most P10,000 and coursed through cheryl, who had been supporting the non-government organization (NGO).

“There were times that when my sister would send us money, Janet would give a small amount to Cheryl to give to our NGO,” Chiong said.

She said she could no longer recall how many times Napoles did this.

All they knew was that Napoles had legitimate businesses.

She said that they were shocked when the news about Napoles being the mastermind of a P10 billion pork barrel scam came out.

Chiong recalled that her first meeting with Napoles was in a lunch date with Napoles’ family. Her sister introduced Chiong to Napoles. She said she was surprised at seeing how simple Napoles was. The woman wore rubber shoes, jeans and a plain shirt. By then, Napoles was already known to be wealthy.

Chiong said that her sister and Napoles first met when Cheryl was working as a staff member of former President Joseph Estrada. Later, she then worked for Erap’s son, senator Jinggoy Estrada and resigned earlier this year.

When Napoles learned about Cheryl’s resignation, Napoles hired her as a consultant. Chiong said that the two became close because they both are Bisaya.