Guingona plans hearings on Malampaya fund misuse

Senator Teofisto Guingona III and Janet Lim-Napoles. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS

MANILA, Philippines – Next on the list of investigations by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee is the alleged misuse of the Malampaya fund.

Senator Teofisto Guingona III, the committee’s chairman, said Friday that after he wraps up the inquiry into the P10-billion pork barrel scam, he would next call a hearing on the alleged diversion of taxes and the government’s share of income from the gas project off Palawan to spurious beneficiaries.

“We will have to do the others also. Next one on the list would be the Malampaya,” said Guingona.

The committee is set to hear next Thursday Janet lim-Napoles’ testimony regarding the scam by which she allegedly diverted billions of pesos in congressional pork barrel to fake non-governmental organizations with the alleged connivance of some lawmakers in exchange for kickbacks.

Whether Napoles talks or not, the committee has a “pretty good idea” of how the racket, involving senators and House representatives, was carried out for 10 years based on the previous testimonies given by whistle-blowers, Guingona said.

The senator, however, did not say when the pork barrel scam hearings would end.

Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano had filed a resolution seeking an investigation into the alleged embezzlement of P900 million in Malampaya funds in 2009 by the Department of Agrarian Reform.

The amount, supposedly allotted for farmers reeling from the devastation of powerful storms, was allegedly diverted to questionable non-governmental organizations, mostly associated with Janet Lim Napoles.

The government has been collecting royalties as well as taxes from the Malampaya oil and natural gas project off Palawan since 2002.

The outstanding P136-billion balance from the fund is lodged in a special account in the general fund, Treasury officials said.

Napoles is facing two separate complaints for plunder with several others at the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the pork barrel scam, and misuse of the Malampaya fund.

After Napoles’ appearance, Guingona said, the committee has to decide whether to summon the chiefs of staff of senators who were also implicated in the scandal.

“Yes, that’s another issue we have to confront after the Napoles hearing. We will evaluate right after the Napoles hearing whether we have sufficient testimonies, considering the fact that we still have the Malampaya,” he said.

Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr. as well as members of their respective staffs, have been accused of plunder, along with Napoles.

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