Baligod ‘list’ clarified amid Santiago threat
Atty. Levito Baligod and Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
And now there is a Baligod list to add to the confusion of lists of politicians and officials alleged to have financially benefited from the operations of Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged mastermind of the P10-billion scam involving the congressional pork barrel, or the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).
Lawyer Levito Baligod on Friday said that it was he who drew up a list a year ago of politicians verified to have dealt with Napoles. Only three senators and 10 House representatives were on that list, he said.
The Baligod list became the basis for the first batch of plunder charges filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in the pork barrel scam case.
Baligod made the clarification on Friday after Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago threatened to file disbarment proceedings against him for allegedly drawing up the list of Benhur Luy, the pork scam’s principal whistle-blower.
No Luy list
In a phone interview, Baligod stressed that the list was based on what could be verified from Luy’s hard disk drive (HDD) which formed the basis of the Inquirer’s series of reports on Luy’s files.
“Luy never made a list of his own. I was the one who drew up a list and submitted it to the DOJ while Benhur was still detained by Napoles. I submitted [the list] on March 8, 2013, Benhur was rescued on March 22 that year,” said Baligod who noted that he did not see Santiago’s name in the Luy files.
Baligod’s list included Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Ramon Revilla Jr., and Jinggoy Estrada; and Representatives Arthur Pingoy Jr., Rizalina Seachon Lanete, Samuel Dangwa, Erwin Chiongbian, Robert Estralla, Conrad Estrella III, Rodolfo Valencia, Marc Douglas Cagas, Victor Ortega and Edgardo Valdez.
Baligod said the Luy files should have been verified first and counter-checked with official documents before any conclusions were made of any politician’s or official’s involvement in the scam.
Patience, prudence
Also on Friday, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the list of pork scam suspects she gave to Sen. Teofisto Guingona III did not necessarily represent the “truth” as it would take further investigation and painstaking collection of evidence before the truth can be arrived at.
She described the Napoles list as a mere “list of names,” adding that it remained to be seen if all the former and current legislators that Napoles listed were really involved in the scam.
“Aside from those whose alleged participation is supported by evidence gathered and already on-record before the NBI or the Ombudsman, the inclusion of the other names cannot even be characterized as true or false, at this point, because we don’t exactly know what Mrs. Napoles is accusing them of,” she added.
De Lima on Thursday gave Guingona, the chair of the Senate blue ribbon committee which is conducting an investigation into the scam, the list of suspects that Napoles gave her when they met late last month at the hospital before the latter was to undergo surgery.
She expressed misgivings about Guingona’s disclosing of the Napoles list to the media and the public after she gave it to him.
“I had hoped that considerations of prudence would have persuaded Senator Guingona to exercise patience in waiting for the completion of the affidavit of Mrs. Napoles. But what has been done is done,” De Lima said.
In a radio interview, De Lima said the list she gave to Guingona was “pointless without a narrative,” the affidavit from Napoles that will supposedly recount what the list is all about.
Angry senators
Some senators are bristling at the contents of the various lists, and are pressing for the reopening of the blue ribbon committee’s inquiry into the scam to be able to confront Luy or even Napoles about their respective lists.
Napoles has named 11 senators on the list that De Lima handed over to Guingona.
The Inquirer last Tuesday ran a story about Luy’s digital files detailing Napoles’ transactions with 15 incumbent senators and 10 former ones from 2002 to 2012, during which Napoles channeled pork barrel allocations to ghost projects.
The two lists have these names of senators in common: Francis Escudero, Ramon Revilla Jr., Jinggoy Estrada, Juan Ponce Enrile, Vicente Sotto III, Loren Legarda, Pimentel, Alan Peter Cayetano, Gregorio Honasan, Joseph Victor Ejercito, Manuel Villar Jr. and the late Robert Barbers.
Luy’s files, or entries in his financial records detailing Napoles’ transactions, also include Senate President Franklin Drilon, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Lito Lapid, Cynthia Villar, Ralph Recto and Santiago.
Muddling plot
The differences of Napoles’ list with Luy’s files, Escudero said meant that Napoles was out to “sow confusion” to take the heat off her.
Pimentel said the DOJ would see through Napoles’ plot to muddle the pork barrel controversy by randomly implicating senators in the scam.
Alan Peter Cayetano said if Napoles’ offer to turn state witness is approved, “then a deal had been sealed.”
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