Luy tells court of corrections to documents in ‘pork’ scam

Benhur Luy, principal whistle-blower in the P10-billion pork barrel scam, Friday admitted that the financial records he presented as primary evidence against implicated personalities were not the actual documents pertaining to the fund scam.

Resuming his testimony at Janet Lim-Napoles’ bail hearing at the Sandiganbayan Third Division, Luy also disclosed that some corrections in the daily disbursement records (DDR) were not reflected in the digital copies of the documents.

Quizzed by Napoles lawyer Dennis Buenaventura during the cross-examination, the witness said Napoles herself would rectify the errors, mostly dates and spelling of names, by writing down the corrections on the printed documents.

Luy said there were instances in which he did not input the necessary corrections on the “soft copies” of the documents which were saved in his computer.

“It happened several times,” Luy said in response to Buenaventura’s question on how often Napoles, the suspected mastermind in the multibillion-peso fund scam, made corrections without Luy inputting the changes into his computer.

When the lawyer asked him why he did not make the necessary changes in his digital files, Luy replied: “Because [the documents] were already filed.”

Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang then asked Luy if the corrections also included amounts which the lawmakers and other individuals supposedly received as kickbacks, to which the witness answered, “Never, because [Napoles] would always check if the figures in the documents and the actual money we have in the cash vaults were the same.”

“So there was never an occasion that there was error in the amounts reflected in the documents?” Tang asked.

“Yes your honor,” Luy replied.

Buenaventura noted that printed copies of DDRs which Luy provided as evidence were not signed, contrary to his previous testimony that he, Napoles and other senior officers of Napoles-owned JLN Corp. would affix their signatures on the documents before Luy would keep them.

Luy explained that the original copies of the DDRs were among the documents shredded by JLN employees upon the instruction of Napoles when the pork barrel issue came out in the media.

“So how can we be sure that these are faithful reproductions of the original documents?”

Buenaventura said.

Deputy Special Prosecutor Cornelio Sumido immediately raised his objection, saying Luy was incompetent to answer Buenaventura’s questions.

“Is that an admission that these DDRs are not faithful reproduction?” the defense lawyer said.

“Leave that to the appreciation of the court,” Tang told Buenaventura.

Associate Justice Samuel Martires also asked Luy if the court “will just take your word” that the copies of the DDRs, which he printed from his external hard drive, were the same as the signed documents.