WHAT WENT BEFORE: Priority Development Assistance Fund

In June 2014, almost a year after the Inquirer published its special report on the pork barrel scam, plunder cases and multiple counts of graft were slapped against lawmakers and government officials for their roles in the alleged misuse of the congressional Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

Former Senators Bong Revilla and Juan Ponce Enrile, businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles and other officials of public and private companies topped the list of those indicted in the Sandiganbayan for plunder and graft.

Revilla was accused of plunder and 16 counts of graft after allegedly amassing P224.5 million in kickbacks from Napoles, the biggest amount the senators supposedly received.

The Inquirer, in July 2013, broke the story that P10 billion in PDAF allocations meant to ease rural poverty had gone to ghost projects and massive kickbacks.

The next month, in its special audit report, the Commission on Audit (COA) found that funds totaling P6.2 billion were transferred to 82 nongovernment organizations (NGOs) from 2007 to 2009. Ten of these NGOs were linked to Napoles. Of these, six were among the top 19 NGOs that received the bulk of the funds.

The report also found that P413.29 million of the P6.2 billion came from Revilla’s PDAF.

According to the COA report, the breakdown of the P413.29 million released by Revilla to Napoles-linked NGOs was: P97 million to Social Development Program for Farmers Foundations Inc., P31.5 million to Philippine Social Development Foundation Inc., P106.45 million to Agri & Economic Program for Farmers Foundation, P58.2 million to Agrikultura Para sa Magbubukid Foundation, and P120.14 million to Masaganang Ani Para sa Magsasaka Foundation Inc.  —INQUIRER RESEARCH

Source: Inquirer Archives