Dennis Cunanan back in Senate to tell all on ‘pork’ scam

Copy of Dennis Cunanan’s affidavit

MANILA, Philippines — Dennis Cunanan, director general on-leave of the Technology Resource Center (TRC), returned to the Senate on Thursday to tell all on the P10 billion “pork barrel” scam.

Cunanan was among those charged at the Office of the Ombudsman but later decided to turn against his co-accused.

Cunanan first appeared before the committee in September 2013.

In his affidavit submitted to the blue ribbon committee investigating the scam, Cunanan identified the 27 legislators, who had allegedly coursed their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) also known as “pork barrel” to bogus non-government organizations (NGOs) linked to detained businesswoman, Janet Lim-Napoles through the TRC.

The list of legislators included three senators –Juan Ponce Enrile, Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr, who are also facing plunder charges in connection with the scam.

Cunanan said the three “handpicked” the Napoles NGOs as recipients of their “pork barrel” funds, contrary to the senators’ claim that they had no role in the selection of NGOs.

He said he had documents to support his claim that the senators had indeed endorsed their NGOs. In fact, he said, he had personally talked over the phone with Revilla and Estrada when the two were following up the release of their funds to the NGOs.

Cunanan said the first time he heard about the PDAF-funded projects was when Napoles, accompanied by then Transportation Assistant Secretary and now Candaba Mayor Rene Maglaque, visited the TRC office sometime in 2006 or 2007.

At that time, Cunanan was still the deputy director general of the TRC.

“Mrs. Napoles introduced herself as the representative of certain legislators, who supposedly picked TRC as the conduit of their PDAF-funded projects,” he said in the affidavit.

“Among those prodeminantly mentioned by Mrs. Napoles as her principals were then Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile, Senators Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., Senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada as well as a host of congressmen whose names I cannot recall now,” he said.

In essence, he said Napoles told him that the TRC would receive shortly thereafter substantial funds from the PDAF of said legislators, who would implement projects through certain NGO’s supposedly handpicked by the lawmakers themselves.

“According to her, the legislators expect TRC to expeditiously process and approve their PDAF-funded projects to be implemented by the NGOs they have chosen and not to make the process, particularly, the release of the funds to the NGOs slow and difficult,” Cunanan said.

But since the PDAF-funded projects were considered as “non-regular’ transactions of the TRC, Cunanan said he referred the matter to their then director general Antonio Ortiz or their legal office.

“Mrs. Napoles told me in the vernacular not to worry about that because it has already been taken care of by them (i.e. “ayos na kami),” he said.

He said Napoles then told him that she would be sending the authorized representatives of the NGOs to the TRC shortly to coordinate, facilitate and follow up the legislators’ projects.

“True enough, soon after Mrs. Napoles’ visit, the TRC started to receive letters from certain legislators informing us that they have allocated part of their PDAF for projects, which are to be implemented by the NGOzs they have chosen and/or that the SAROs for the said PDAF-funded projects were in fact already issued by the Department of Budget and Management,” he said.

Cunanan recalled that during the years 2007 to 2009 specially when Ortiz was not around, there were numerous occacions that he said he was “constrained to receive visits and/or personal follow ups from legislators or their representatives for the release of their funds coursed through the TRC.

“Said follow-ups and visits often caused panic among the staff receiving the calls or welcoming the lobby visitors to the Center because these legislators are high-ranking officials of the government. Hence, they were frequently referred to me in the absence of Director General Ortis,” he further said.

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