Technology Resource Center Director General Dennis Cunanan PHOTO FROM www.dost.gov.ph
MANILA, Philippines—Given his knowledge of the pork barrel scam, Dennis Cunanan should expect his credibility to be questioned, otherwise, he should be allowed to tell his story, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III said on Sunday.
Cunanan, the latest provisional witness of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to accuse senators of funneling their pork barrel funds to dubious nongovernment organizations, is testifying before the Senate blue ribbon committee on Thursday.
But ahead of his testimony, the head of the government corporation Technology Resource Center (TRC), who is on leave, has gotten calls that he come clean on his possible kickbacks from the P10-billion scam, if not on his lifestyle.
“The witness should be credible. I’m sure the preliminary questions for Mr. Cunanan would be focused on his credibility,” Pimentel said in an interview over radio station dzBB.
To test Cunanan’s credibility, the veracity of his sworn statement—including his claim that he didn’t pocket kickbacks from the scam—could be checked against that of the lawmakers and records of public and private entities, Pimentel said.
The senator said the earlier whistle-blowers, Benhur Luy and Ruby Tuason, were subjected to the same questioning.
“But once cleared, let him tell his story. Let’s give him time. That’s the importance of the hearing on Thursday,” Pimentel said.
Cunanan, 42, said at least P600 million in lawmakers’ Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) allocations was coursed through the TRC when he was its deputy head.
The funds were funneled to the TRC by Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr. from their PDAF allocations from 2007 to early 2009, he said.
The TRC was used as an implementing agency for PDAF-funded ghost projects proposed by dummy organizations set up by Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged brains behind the pork barrel scam.
The senators have denied wrongdoing.
Lifestyle checks
Cunanan said he had personally talked with Estrada, Revilla and Enrile’s chief of staff, Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes, to verify the authorization for the use of their PDAF allocations.
While he didn’t know how much kickbacks they got, Cunanan said the lawmakers exerted pressure on him to release their PDAF funds to preselected organizations.
And contrary to the claims of Revilla and others, Cunanan said their signatures on their letters of endorsement submitted to the TRC were genuine.
At the time, the TRC was headed by Antonio Ortiz. Both Ortiz and Cunanan are respondents in the plunder complaints filed by the National Bureau of Investigation in the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the scam.
In response to calls for a lifestyle check on him, Cunanan authorized his lawyer to disclose his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth.
“If there’s no other witness, whistle-blower or storyteller with a better story, it’s time to stop the hearing on the alleged PDAF scam so that the blue ribbon committee could write a report or make a recommendation,” Pimentel said.
And given its many witnesses, it is time the DOJ make a pronouncement that it is “confident about its evidence,” the senator said. “So far, there’s no such categorical statement from the DOJ. Haven’t they built up a strong case?”
Proposed daily trial
Pimentel deferred to the Sandiganbayan to decide whether to hold a daily trial on the case should the Ombudsman file plunder charges against the three senators, Napoles and 34 others implicated in the racket.
“The Sandiganbayan is already a special court. Let’s leave the Sandiganbayan alone; otherwise it would just confuse the system. If we go ahead with that, it’s as if we’re saying we don’t trust the Sandiganbayan,” he said. “It’s a special court mentioned in the Constitution specifically for cases like this.”
Senators Antonio Trillanes IV and Grace Poe agreed that Cunanan would face more scrutiny.
“I believe everyone would be more scrutinizing of the incoming witnesses after Ruby Tuason’s testimony,” Trillanes said in a text message, referring to the former Malacañang social secretary who said last month she delivered kickbacks to Estrada personally and to Enrile’s top aide.
Poe said it was the role of any senator “to listen to all resource persons’ sworn statements and check for possible inconsistencies to be able to objectively decide on the validity of their assertions.”
De Venecia connection
On Sunday, Karina Constantino-David, a former chair of the Civil Service Commission, said Cunanan’s appointment as executive director of the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) under the Arroyo administration after the May 2004 election raised a ruckus because he allegedly passed himself off as a graduate of the University of the Philippines.
“I received a complaint from the agency’s top officials and union about how a college undergraduate was able to get appointed as a top official of the CHEd,” David said in a phone interview.
“We investigated and true enough, he did not graduate from college, a basic requirement for almost all government posts. He was told to leave,” she added.
Cunanan, who hails from Magalang town, Pampanga province, was not out of a job for long. In December 2004, Cunanan was appointed by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as deputy director general of the TRC.
In both the CHEd and the TRC, David said, Cunanan was endorsed by former House Speaker Jose de Venecia, for whom Cunanan worked as House executive assistant between 2001 and 2003.
Cunanan’s lawyer, Odessa Bernabe, denied her client misrepresented himself but admitted he did not have a college degree when he was appointed to the CHEd and that he resigned after this was pointed out to him.
“He was not kicked out. He was even thankful then because he found out his educational status and started attending to it accordingly,” Bernabe said.
Cunanan received a diploma from Lacson College in 2005, she said.—With reports from Gil C. Cabacungan and Nancy C. Carvajal
Originally posted: 10:30 pm | Sunday, March 2nd, 2014
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