Manila solon files perjury raps vs Napoles

Rep. Amado Bagatsing.  PHOTO from congress.gov.ph

MANILA, Philippine—Manila Representative Amado Bagatsing on Tuesday filed perjury raps against Janet Lim-Napoles for implicating him in the pork barrel scam.

According to his complaint-affidavit provided to the media, Bagatsing filed the charges before the Makati city prosecutor.

He alleged that Napoles spread false information under oath when Napoles accused Bagatsing of coursing P1 million in pork barrel funds to a Napoles nongovernment organization.

According to Napoles in her sworn affidavit, Bagatsing supposedly received a 40-percent rebate of the project cost implemented by the Technology Resource Center through Napoles’ “Masaganang Ani Para sa Magsasaka Foundation.”

Napoles said Mina Nieva, the daughter of the late Rep. Ernesto Nieva, received the commission for Bagatsing as well as for her father.

In his complaint, Bagatsing said he could not have implemented a project in 2007 because he supposedly only received his Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF) in January 2008.

He also said the signatures in the letters to TRC were forged and the letterhead was also falsified.

“Significantly, I did not receive nor authorized any person to receive in my behalf a rebate or commission from the transactions involving a Napoles NGO in her PDAF dealing with TRC,” the complaint read.

In an affidavit attached to the complaint, Mina Nieva had also denied allegations that she served as a middle person between Napoles and lawmakers.

Plunder and graft charges were filed against lawmakers, officials and accused mastermind Napoles purportedly involved in the scam.

The pork barrel in the form of PDAF has been seen as a tool for political patronage and corruption.

The practice of allotting billions of public funds to lawmakers for them to ease poverty in their constituencies was struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional at the height of the investigation on the scam.