More than 150 solons in Luy’s pork records

Eighth of a series

MANILA, Philippines—More than 150 past and present members of the House of Representatives are named in the computer records of Janet Lim-Napoles’ former finance officer Benhur Luy detailing transactions in which Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) allocations were allegedly diverted to ghost projects and kickbacks.

Luy’s records showed that close to P4 billion worth of PDAF-funded projects from 2002 to 2012 were coursed through various implementing agencies, with the funds landing in the bank accounts of Napoles’ companies and nongovernment organizations (NGOs).

Some of the congressmen in Luy’s records have been charged by the National Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice in the Office of the Ombudsman.

A copy of the hard-disk drive (HDD) containing the files of Luy was given to the Inquirer when Luy’s parents, accompanied by their former lawyer, Levito Baligod, visited the newspaper on April 27, 2013, to request assistance in exposing Napoles’ activities.

In addition to the HDD, Luy also provided the Inquirer with additional documents of transactions of lawmakers with Napoles and her fake organizations.

The Inquirer is running the names and details of their alleged transactions with Napoles in several installments due to space constraints.

Luy’s records also showed that the congressmen allegedly received kickbacks personally or through conduits or agents.

Some of the lawmakers received their kickbacks either in cash—in pesos or foreign currency—or in checks right in the session hall, restaurants, at Napoles’ JLN office in Discovery Suites at Ortigas Center in Pasig City, or their residences, according to the records.

The records also showed that “rebates or commissions” for some congressmen were personally delivered by Luy.

Only two congressmen have “fully implemented projects” in the records of Luy.

Aurora Rep. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo, Luy’s records indicated, had her P5-million PDAF-funded project with the Department of Transportation and Communications as the implementing agency “implemented.”

The same entry, under Castillo, showed that on July 19, 2003, a MITA copier was listed in particular and the mode of payment was “substitution.” The current price of a four-in-one copier is placed at P56,000.

Some of the lawmakers allegedly received their kickbacks in kind, like sports utility vehicles, the monthly amortizations on which were paid by Napoles with funds taken from the various bank accounts of the fake organizations that served as depositories of the lawmakers’ pork barrel.

Some of the congressmen also received their kickbacks through bank transfers.

The records also showed that current Energy Regulatory Commission Chair Zenaida Ducut, who was Pampanga’s second district representative in 2001-2004, served as the top agent of Napoles in Congress.

Luy’s records also showed that most of the congressmen received 40-percent commissions from their total PDAF allocations.

The records showed that Napoles deducted another 5 percent from the total cost of the project she claimed “for tax payments.”

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