Benjur Luy. NOY MORCOSO lll/INQUIRER.net
The Sandiganbayan has ordered state prosecutors to produce the entire content of state witness Benhur Luy’s hard disk drive on the pork barrel scam transactions after noting the prosecution’s “selective” presentation of evidence.
A senior member of the antigraft court’s Third Division handling Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile’s plunder case has demanded to know why the government’s main witness presented only piecemeal evidence.
Associate Justice Samuel Martires told prosecutors to print out all of Luy’s hard drive files, which the principal whistle-blower claimed were copies of the computer files of alleged mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles, “unless you’re hiding something.”
“If you’re protecting some personalities, then you’re being selective in prosecuting those involved in PDAF (Priority Development Assistance Fund) cases,” Martires said.
The other members of the Third Division are Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang and newly-appointed Associate Justice Sarah Jane Fernandez.
The order came as Martires questioned Luy, who was under cross-examination by Napoles’ lawyer Lani David, on details about alleged disbursements of kickbacks for Enrile and his “middlemen,” missing vouchers and other supporting files on transactions between the senator’s representatives and Napoles’ bogus foundations.
Luy said he only presented the hard disk drive files on the disbursement reports related to Enrile and the people who allegedly received kickbacks on behalf of the senator for the pork barrel-funded ghost livelihood projects.
“While it is the discretion of the prosecution to select evidence, it is also the obligation of the court to ferret the truth to be able to see the entirety of the document(s). Unless you are hiding something from the document. It is very easy to come up with data and put it in the computer,” the justice said.