Senate body may summon two Nabcor whistle-blowers

MANILA, Philippines—The Senate blue ribbon committee is considering calling a 10th hearing on the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam so former National Agribusiness Corp. (Nabcor) officials Rhodora Mendoza and Vicente Cacal could testify on how their agency was used for the benefit of 83 lawmakers.

If it happens, the hearing will be after the May 5 resumption of the session of Congress, Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, the committee chair, told reporters on Wednesday. Congress went on a Lenten break beginning last week.

“We’re inclined to hear it. Why not?” Guingona said when asked about Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago’s resolution requesting that Mendoza and Cacal be summoned to explain how Nabcor was used in the alleged diversion of more than P1 billion from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to ghost projects and kickbacks.

He said he’d rather that the resolution be approved by the Senate plenary. “We’ll just wait until it is referred to us,” Guingona said, despite a provision in the Senate rules that his panel may set inquiries even without a referral.

Mendoza and Cacal have submitted documents to the Office of the Ombudsman that indicate 83 lawmakers funneled P1.7 billion worth of pork barrel funds to fake nongovernment organizations (NGOs) through Nabcor, an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture, from 2007 to 2009.

The two former Nabcor officials were among the 38 people under investigation by the Ombudsman in connection with the PDAF scam. They are applying to become state witnesses.

Mendoza was present in at least one of the earlier hearings of the committee. She was with Nabcor president Alan Javellana, also one of the respondents in the PDAF case.

“Yes, she was there the first time. Yes that’s what we have to look into. We also have to respect the resolution filed,” Guingona said.

He said the panel won’t summon former Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap to the hearing despite being implicated by the documents that Mendoza and Cacal submitted. Yap is “presently a congressman, so interparliamentary courtesy must be extended,” he said.

Guingona said it was up to former Sen. Edgardo Angara whether he’d want to present his case before the panel. “We will leave that up to him as we have done for other senators,” he said.

Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr., are among those under investigation by the Ombudsman. They have denied wrongdoing, but have inhibited themselves from the committee hearings, saying they’d rather answer the charges against them in court.

Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano said Wednesday it was time for the committee to wrap up its inquiry into the PDAF scam and investigate the alleged misuse of P900 million from the government’s share in the operation of the Malampaya gas fields. The amount was intended for victims of two storms in 2009 but allegedly ended up in kickbacks.

“I think that there should be a partial report on the PDAF and then the Malampaya should follow,” said Cayetano, who relayed his request to Guingona.

“I’m still trying to evaluate,” Guingona told reporters, refusing to commit whether to issue a partial committee report on the long-running PDAF hearing.