Cunanan ready for grilling

Dennis Cunanan. PHOTO FROM www.dost.gov.ph

MANILA, Philippines—The Senate blue ribbon committee won’t just hear Thursday what Dennis Cunanan has to say about his dealings with senators allegedly involved in the P10-billion pork barrel scam, it will also take up his offer for a lifestyle check and receive new evidence from him about purported kickbacks to the lawmakers.

Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, the committee chair, told reporters on Wednesday that Sen. Grace Poe had requested that Cunanan, the director general of the state-owned Technology Resource Center, bring his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).

Cunanan’s lawyer, Odessa Bernardo, said her client was prepared to provide evidence that would “bolster accusations of kickbacks against the senators.”

The lawyer declined to give details, but said Cunanan was “ready to face the senators and will answer all questions, including his supposed wealth and lifestyle.”

She told the Inquirer that documents concerning the house at the swank White Plains subdivision in Quezon City where Cunanan is staying and his SALN had been submitted to the Senate.

Cunanan is the first government official to offer evidence to the prosecution in return for his being dropped from the plunder case under investigation in the Office of the Ombudsman. The respondents number 38, including Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr. and alleged scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.

Asked if the panel would test Cunanan’s credibility, Guingona said, “Of course, we will look into that,”  including the official’s “demeanor and how he conducts himself.”

Guingona said this was the reason Benhur Luy, the principal witness in the alleged diversion of Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) allocations to ghost projects and kickbacks, would be present during the hearing, “to compare, to check if their testimonies are consistent with each other or if they are inconsistent.”

Corroborative evidence

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has also been summoned to the hearing. She has agreed to Cunanan’s application as a provisional state witness.

Asked about Enrile’s former chief of staff, Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes, who allegedly received kickbacks from the senator’s PDAF allocations, Guingona said it was up to the National Bureau of Investigation to locate her. “If they find her then we will summon her,” he said.

Ruby Tuason, a former Malacañang social secretary and confessed Napoles bagman, testified that she personally delivered kickbacks from Napoles to Estrada and Reyes.

Cunanan has testified that he had phone conversations with Estrada and Revilla, during which they told him to divert their PDAF allocations to dubious nongovernment organizations (NGOs).

The senators have denied wrongdoing. The lawmakers have boycotted the hearings, but Estrada said he would monitor Thursday’s proceedings.

“I have to because I will [answer] all accusations if any via privilege speech. And I am ready. Even now, I can already deliver it. I have all the ammunition against him,” Estrada said.

Demolition campaign

Much has been reported in the media on Cunanan’s purported lavish lifestyle although De Lima said it was all part of a negative publicity campaign.

“Let him say what he wants to say. I am not scared of him,” Revilla said. He said Cunanan’s testimony was part of a campaign to put him in a bad light because he was being considered a presidential candidate in 2016 by the Lakas party. “I expect him to lie,” Revilla said.

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III said Cunanan would be questioned about his wealth.

“There should be somebody who would say that he benefited (from the racket). It will be unfair if it will be Cunanan who will prove that he did not,” Pimentel said over dwIZ. “Let those who have the information prove that he did.”

To do otherwise, Pimentel said, would be unfair to Cunanan as it would go against the rules on evidence.

“Let us also read up and review the affidavits of Benhur Luy [and the other whistle-blowers]. Let us check what they said about Dennis Cunanan,” Pimentel said. “If none among them said that they gave him money and that he benefited, it might be true that he didn’t.”

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