Lawmaker linked to ‘pork’ scam threatens to file raps vs Napoles

Rep. Rufus Rodriguez. Photo from congress.gov.ph

MANILA, Philippines — A congressman linked to the alleged pork barrel scam on Thursday threatened to file charges against Janet Lim-Napoles following the discovery that P3.5 million of his allocation had gone to a fake nongovernment organization.

Cagayan de Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez said he would not take sitting down the findings that part of his Priority Development Assistance Fund in 2007 did not go to its intended beneficiary.

“I won’t stop at simply defending myself which I will do at the proper forum. Definitely, I will also press charges,” he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Rodriguez maintained that his signatures were forged and documents were faked, allowing the bogus NGO to get hold of his PDAF, informally know as pork barrel fund.

“I was really shocked when I learned about it,” he recalled, noting that the amount was earmarked for the Technology and Livelihood Resource Center.

“It’s a legitimate agency and I had no reason to believe that the PDAF would not be spent properly.”

Rodriguez said he would wait for the official findings of the National Bureau of Investigation before he filed charges.

The third-term congressman was put on the spot after his name surfaced as among the legislators whose PDAF allocations had supposedly gone to fake NGOs put up by Napoles, who is now the subject of an arrest warrant for a separate case.

Like Davao City Representative Isidro Ungab, he said he had prepared all documents purportedly showing that transactions were all above board.

In his case, Rodriguez said his signatures were faked to allow the fake NGO to secure part of his PDAF, which was in fact allocated for the TLRC.