Estrada admits endorsing P50M to LGUs

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada admitted endorsing  P50 million for various local government units (LGUs) but said the fund did not come from either his Priority  Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or the  controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program  (DAP).

“It did not come from my PDAF neither from DAP. (The) source of the fund is from DAR,”’ Estrada told reporters on Tuesday.

The senator was reacting to the Department of  Agrarian Reform’s (DAR) report that he endorsed P70 million worth of organic farming livelihood projects for 10 towns, which  were allegedly  undertaken by 10 non-government  organizations under businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.

Estrada confirmed that he wrote DAR Secretary  Virgilio Delos Reyes in 2011 to request for “funding assistance” in the amount  of P50 million.

“This is my letter to Secretary Delos Reyes and  bahala na sila kung ano ang ibibigay nila. This did not come from my PDAF,” he said.

The senator said he did not know why the DAR report showed that he endorsed P70 million when his letter showed only P50 million.

“Hindi ko alam kung paanong naging P70 million. I don’t have any documents e.  I don’t have documents in the office worth P70 million,” he said.

Also contrary to DAR’s report, Estrada said the  mayors, who requested for funding, were the ones who chose the NGOs that would implement the projects.

To prove this,   the senator read to reporters  a portion  of  a mayor’s  letter to him, saying: “…I wish to request  that the funding support be implemented by Social Development Program for Farm Foundation.”

“Sila mismo ang nag-endorsed ng  NGO, hindi po ako (They are the ones  who endorsed  the NGO, not me),” Estrada said.

And since he requested the funding assistance from the DAR, he said, the  agency  may approve or reject his request.

“That’s their money. They can reject if they want it or approve it,” he said.

“They can either approve or reject my letter. It’s up to them. Inapruban nila (They approved it) and they have the documents to prove that it’s the mayor who endorsed the NGO’s , not me,” Estrada added.

Meanwhile, Senator  Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan , who also reportedly endorsed  P150 million for14 towns  through NGOs linked to Napoles, said  he could not still verify the source of the funding  or if his office had indeed endorsed such funding.

Honasan reiterated  that he would closely coordinate with the DAR  to ensure that the support intended for  the farmers and agrarian reform beneficiaries  were properly implemented.

Related Stories:

Estrada hits peers; silent on charges
Privilege Speech of Sen. Jose ‘Jinggoy’ Estrada on the ‘pork’ scam

Enrile, Estrada, Revilla linked anew to Napoles pork scam

Drilon confirms P50M pork barrel