Senate eyes Malampaya probe

The Malampaya gas rig is found 80 kilometers off the shore of northwest Palawan. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—After investigating the pork barrel scam, the Senate blue ribbon committee will next train its sights on the alleged misuse of funds from the Malampaya natural gas project in Palawan.

Sen. Teofisto Guingona III said that alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles could not rest easy yet because some of her nongovernment organizations (NGOs) were also implicated in the alleged misuse of the proceeds of the Malampaya project.

“We will be moving to the Malampaya hearings because the NGOs of Janet Lim-Napoles are also involved,” the blue ribbon committee chair told reporters after Thursday’s hearing on the pork barrel scandal.

Guingona, however, said it was still premature to say if the committee would invite Napoles to the hearings on the Malampaya funds since he has yet to study the matter.

The Department of Budget and Management cleared the release of P900 million from the Malampaya Fund in December 2009 for assistance to agrarian reform beneficiaries affected by Tropical Storms “Ondoy” and “Pepeng.”

Prior to this, then Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman authorized the release of P300 million from the Land Bank of the Philippines to 12 NGOs controlled by Napoles, government documents showed.

A plunder complaint was filed against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, former Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Pangandaman and his former undersecretary Narciso Nieto, former Budget Secretary and now Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr., his former undersecretary Mario Relampagos, and 19 others over the funds.

Napoles is also facing the same complaint and a separate plunder complaint in connection with the P10-billion pork barrel scam.

Begun in 2002, the Malampaya project involves the extraction of natural gas from the waters off Palawan for power generation. The government collects royalties from the project.

The outstanding P136-billion balance from the fund is lodged in a special account in the general fund, Treasury officials said.

After the Malampaya misuse, Guingona indicated that the committee would look into the role of more than 70 other NGOs not linked to Napoles that became recipients of pork barrel funds.

“After that, we will also go to the other NGOs,” he said, assuring colleagues that he wasn’t wrapping up the pork barrel hearing yet.

State auditors reported that from 2007 to 2009, some P6.2 billion from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) was illegally funneled to 82 NGOs, including eight with ties to Napoles.

Commission on Audit Chair Grace Pulido-Tan said some of the 82 NGOs failed to submit necessary documents and were not necessarily “fraudulent.”

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