Plunder raps filed against Bongbong

Vice Presidential candidate and Senator Bongbong Marcos. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / RICHARD A. REYES

A youth group has asked the Ombudsman to investigate vice presidential candidate Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for plunder for allegedly misusing P205 million of his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel.

Calling itself the Ibalik ang Bilyones ng Mamamayan (iBBM), the group claimed that Marcos funnelled P205 million of his pork barrel to fake nongovernment organizations run by alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Napoles.

The group cited the records of Napoles’ aide-turned-whistleblower Benhur Luy that included Marcos among the legislators who transacted with Napoles.

The group said based on Luy’s records, nine special allotment request orders (SAROs) were issued from Marcos’ PDAF and subsequently funneled to five bogus NGOs run by Napoles as well as the government-run National Livelihood Development Corp. (NLDC) from October 2011 to January 2013.

Direct involvement

“These SAROs constitute part of the Luy files, which show that Marcos Jr. himself was directly involved in stealing the people’s money,” said iBBM spokesperson Rafaela David in a statement after filing their complaint before the Ombudsman on Wednesday.

Napoles was included in the plunder complaint along with a certain Catherine Mae “Maya” Santos,  a former consultant of the senator from January 2011 to June 2013.

The other complainants were Marlon Cornelio, Beatrice Reyno, Albert Tijam Jr., Amiel Ayson, Aaron Marc Dimaano and Leizl Adame.

The complaint also attached a letter Marcos’ office issued on August 22, 2014, that “requested the municipal mayor of General Nakar (Quezon province) to tap the services of the Social Development Program for Farmers Foundation Inc. (SDPFFI).”

The SDPFFI was among the bogus NGOs Napoles and Luy allegedly used to receive pork barrel funds from legislators in exchange for kickbacks.

Ghost projects

The complaint also cited a Commission on Audit report which found the Marcos’ PDAF disbursements “illegal and irregular” because the projects turned out to be ghost projects with the funds not reaching its intended beneficiaries.

Marcos, however, questioned the timing of the filing of a plunder charge against him.

In a statement, Marcos said the filing of the charge a month before the elections exemplifies the administration’s “long-standing tradition of selective justice” and is apparently intended to derail his campaign.

“That is the problem with us. Everything is all about politics,” he pointed out. “Our justice system is becoming political. If you are not an administration ally, you are charged.”

Marcos said he had long been cleared of any involvement by alleged PDAF scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles in an affidavit she submitted to the Senate blue ribbon committee.