2nd whistle-blower lets lawyer go

MANILA, Philippines—Merlita Suñas, one of the whistle-blowers in the P10-billion pork barrel scam, has let go of the services of lawyer Levito Baligod, saying she wanted to fight her “battles” without his help.

Atty. Levito Baligod talks to reporters after a break was called on the senate hearing on the pork barrel scam where alleged mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles attended for the first time on Thursday.
INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

“Regrettably, I have decided to continue my battles without you guiding me. I would like to thank you for your time and effort in protecting my rights and in representing me in my legal battles,” Suñas said in an undated one-page letter, a copy of which was received on Friday by the National Bureau of Investigation Special Task Force.

Suñas thanked Baligod for standing by her for more than a year, “despite all the difficulties that we encountered along the way.”

A project coordinator of JLN Corp. of suspected pork scam mastermind Janet Lim- Napoles, Suñas was admitted as a state witness last year.

She provided testimony on Napoles’ alleged use of phony nongovernment organizations to divert funds from the congressional pork barrel, officially known as the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), to “ghost” or uncompleted projects, directing most of the funds back into the pockets of her lawmaker accomplices.

She also revealed that Napoles similarly had a hand in siphoning off P900 million from the Malampaya Fund intended for typhoon-devastated local government units in 2009.

Suñas is the second whistle-blower to have dispensed with Baligod’s services. Benhur Luy, the main whistle-blower in the pork scam, fired the lawyer last March, saying that Baligod appeared to be “very busy” with his other advocacies.

It is not known what Baligod’s legal standing is now as one of the two complainants (the other being the NBI) in the first pork barrel scam complaint filed by the Department of Justice against Napoles and 37 other suspects in the Office of the Ombudsman in September last year using evidence and testimony provided by Luy, Suñas and other whistle-blowers.

Baligod is also the lawyer of Rhodora Mendoza and Vic Cacal, former officials of the state-owned National Agribusiness Corp., who exposed the alleged misuse of P5 billion in pork barrel funds for agricultural projects in 2009.

RELATED STORIES

Baligod ‘list’ clarified amid Santiago threat

Luy dumps Baligod, hires new lawyers

Janet Lim Napoles and the pork barrel scam