Justice Secretary Leila De Lima: That hard disk drive belongs to Benhur. PHOTO BY RICHARD A. REYES
MANILA, Philippines—Benhur Luy or his lawyer could best explain why there were deletions in his digital files on the pork barrel scam, which were submitted to the Senate and the Office of the Ombudsman as part of his evidence against Janet Lim-Napoles, Justice Secretary Leila De Lima said on Sunday.
“It’s Benhur [or his counsel or both of them] who are in the best position to explain those deletions. That hard disk drive belongs to Benhur,” De Lima said in a text message to reporters.
De Lima was asked whether the credibility of Luy, who blew the whistle on the P10-billion pork barrel scam allegedly masterminded by Napoles, had been affected by the discovery of the deleted files.
Forensic experts at the National Bureau of Investigation discovered the deleted files but they were able to retrieve it.
In her text message, De Lima, responding to questions by senators that Luy’s files might have been sanitized, said the NBI had nothing to do with the deleted files.
“As a matter of fact, it’s the NBI, specifically the cybercrime division, that detected those deletions,” she said.
“So any insinuations of sanitizing on our (Department of Justice and NBI) part is completely baseless. As I have previously stated, we will never do that,” De Lima added.
The NBI had possession of Luy’s files either in December 2012 or January 2013. The digital files contained pork barrel transactions of Napoles.
Luy’s parents, accompanied by lawyer Levito Baligod, gave the Inquirer his external hard disk drive containing the files on April 27 last year and asked for help in exposing Napoles’ racket.
Baligod said the deletion could have been “inadvertent.”
“It could be me, Benhur or the NBI in the process of summarizing the contents of the voluminous files,” Baligod said last week.
Truth Commission
Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, in a statement, on Sunday called on President Aquino to create a Truth Commission to investigate the alleged diversion of P10-billion from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to ghost projects and kickbacks.
He said the commission could be composed of members of the media, academic institutions and the judiciary, and that it would be making only recommendations “and not bypass the authority of the Ombudsman to investigate and prosecute officials and employees involved in anomalies and irregularities.”
In a radio interview, also on Sunday, Trillanes said the independent body was needed if people wanted to know the whole truth about the PDAF scam.
“What is happening right now is that once your name is mentioned on the Napolist, you’re instantly a criminal or corrupt. We don’t want this. We should investigate this so that things would be clear on whether these lawmakers are indeed involved. We want this investigation so that names can be cleared,” Trillanes said in Filipino.
Napoles has listed 20 senators and 100 congressmen, as well as their agents, in her affidavits submitted to the Senate blue ribbon committee headed by Sen. Teofisto Guingona III. She has offered to be a state witness. Guingona has been consulting members of the committee on the possibility of reopening hearings into the scam.
Trillanes asked Malacañang “to take control of the situation” caused by the pork barrel controversy because “political interest groups” could take advantage of it.
“They cannot be passive. They should take the lead on where this will go and this should be in accordance with the interest of the state,” the senator said in an interview over radio dzBB.
While Trillanes said there might be attempts by this group to try to unseat the Aquino administration using this issue, he did not think the military would back them.
For one, he said, the pork barrel controversy does not lead to the doorstep of President Aquino.
“So if there is no issue against the Commander in Chief, there is no reason for them to rebel against their Commander in Chief,” Trillanes said, adding that he believed the military remained united under the President’s leadership.
“I checked. No one is moving,” he said.
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