Benhur Luy escorted by NBI after the mass. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Benhur Luy, the whistleblower in the P10 billion pork barrel scam allegedly masterminded by Janet Lim-Napoles, claimed that Napoles’ brother threatened to kill him after the siblings accused him of having his own secret transactions.
“Hayop ka traydor ka. Alam mo Benhur convicted criminal na ako, wala nang saysay buhay ko, papatayin kita para lang sa ate ko (I am already a convicted criminal. My life is meaningless already. I will kill you just for my sister),” Luy quoted Napoles’ brother, Reynald “Jojo” Lim as saying last December 19, 2012, minutes after Napoles scanned Luy’s cellphone and saw messages from one “Flor” and “Maya”.
Luy, who made the statement as he took the witness stand at the Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 150 Friday, said Lim was referring to Napoles when he quoted Lim as saying that he would kill for her elder sister.
Prior to this statement allegedly uttered by Lim, Napoles called a meeting with officers in-charge of transactions related to the Priority Development Fund (PDAF) at the JLN Corp. office to discuss operation backlogs, Department of Agriculture transactions and some other deals with local government units.
Allegedly present during the meeting were Merlina Sunas, Evelyn de Leon, Ronald John Lim (Napoles’ nephew) and Luy.
During the meeting, Luy said that there was a time when Napoles grabbed his cellphone while a certain “Flor” was sending a text message. The message was allegedly about cash amounting to P8,000.
“Aba may text pala kayo ni Flor. May communication pala kayo ni Flor (So, you are communicating with Flor),” Luy quoted Napoles as saying.
Luy told the court that Napoles also knew someone named “Flor,” a fortune teller from Laguna.
Luy said he explained to Napoles that Flor was his childhood friend from Zamboanga City and she was asking money for her to send to Zamboanga.
Even after his explanation, Napoles apparently continued reading the contents of Luy’s phone.
Napoles then saw the name of “Maya.”
Through her nephew, Napoles found out that the Maya in Luy’s phone was her long-time friend.
This was the time Napoles got angry and cursed him.
“Putang-ina mo Benhur. Walanghiya ka . . . Ikaw pa na kamang-anak ko, ikaw pa ang magta-traydor sakin. Kaya pala nababawasan ang PDAF ko dahil sa hidden transactions ng mga chief of staff ng mga senador tsaka mga congressman (You son of a bitch. You are my relative, and yet you betrayed me. I get less share of PDAF because of hidden transactions of chiefs of staff of senators and congressmen),” he recalled Napoles as saying.
Napoles then shouted repeatedly, “Ikulong na yan (Detain him).”
Lim then arrived at the office and asked him to move to another room. He also instructed Nap Sibayan, a security officer, to not let Luy go out.
“Bantayan mo si Benhur, wag mo syang palabasin sabi ni ate (Look after Benhur. Don’t let him leave the room as my sister instructed),” Luy said.
Napoles went back and hit him at the left side of his head and cursed him again.
“Putang-ina ka pati si Ungab kinuha mo (You son of a bitch and you even illegally transacted with Ungab),” Luy quoted Napoles. He said “Ungab” is the congressman of the 3rd district of Davao City.
Napoles then left and Lim went back to the room. He also hit Luy at the side of his head, and likewise cursed Luy, and then threatened him.
While Luy was inside the room, Lim was going in and out and was seemingly forcing him to confess he indeed made his own transactions.
Luy said Lim also told him that Napoles had talked to senators and mayors, and they were angry at him for being a traitor.
“Alam mo Benhur kung gaano kalawak ang koneksyon ni Jenny. Kaya niyang gawin lahat para hindi masira ang negosyo niya (Benhur, you know how wide Jenny’s connection is. She can do anything to save her business),” Luy recounted Lim as saying.
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