Sen. Jinggoy Estrada. INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippines–One of the whistle-blowers in the P10-billion pork barrel scam on Monday testified that in 2010 she deposited P10 million to the bank account of a businessman believed to be a conduit to detained Sen. Jinggoy Estrada.
Returning to the witness stand at the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division, Merlina Suñas dropped the bombshell just as prosecutors of the Office of the Ombudsman stumbled once again following the array of legal objections raised by Estrada’s lawyers.
In her testimony at the continuation of Estrada’s bail hearing, Suñas said her former employer, alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles, instructed her in March 2010 to deposit the P10 million to a Metrobank account under the name of Juan Ng.
Ng, a close friend of the detained senator, was identified by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) as among the persons who allegedly helped Estrada hide his kickbacks from the purported misuse of his Priority Development Assistance Fund or pork barrel.
Not aware
But Estrada downplayed Suñas’ testimony, insisting that Ng was not a conduit and that he was not aware if his friend, who he said was engaged in steel roofing, had transacted business with Napoles.
“Maybe the prosecution was trying to lay the basis or predicate to link Mr. Ng to the AMLC report. (But) I have nothing to do with it. Maybe they (Ng and Napoles) had a business dealing which I’m not aware of,” Estrada told reporters after the court proceeding.
He reiterated he and his lawyers were not blocking the release of the AMLC report, but were merely protecting his rights as an accused.
During the direct examination handled by Special Prosecutor Jacinto de la Cruz, Suñas said she herself had prepared the documents pertaining to the registration of Napoles’ bogus foundations and the transfer of public funds allocated by lawmakers to fake nongovernment organizations (NGOs).
Asked by De la Cruz what she did after receiving checks in the name of Nemesio Pablo, a president of one of the spurious NGOs, Suñas replied: “I withdrew the money and transferred it to the accounts of lawyers, including Juan Ng.”
‘Unresponsive answer’
Upon hearing her answer, Noel Malaya, one of Estrada’s lawyers, and Dennis Buenaventura, Napoles’ defense counsel, stood up to protest what they called Suñas’ “unresponsive answer.”
Buenaventura pointed out that Ng was not a lawyer as the witness claimed, adding that De la Cruz did not even ask her into whose accounts the bank checks were deposited.
“The witness is not aware of the [profession] of Juan Ng, your honors,” De la Cruz told the three-member division.
But Associate Justice Alexander Gesmundo, the senior member of the Fifth Division, did not grant the defense panel’s objection, saying it was up to the court to weigh Suñas’ testimony.
Suñas’ disclosure about Ng was the only bright spot for the prosecution, which was again stifled by Estrada’s lawyers from discussing in open court the involved scheme allegedly drawn up by Napoles to embezzle billions of pesos in public funds intended for poor farmers.
Estrada has also asked the Supreme Court to stop the Sandiganbayan from admitting into evidence the alleged financial records of the company of Napoles and the testimony of principal whistle-blower Benhur Luy.
Meanwhile, Estrada will be spending the whole day Tuesday, his 52nd birthday, behind bars after the Sandiganbayan denied Monday his request for a three-hour birthday furlough.–With a report from Jerome Aning