Senator Estrada says 2016 polls behind pork plunder raps

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Charges linking him to the P10-billion pork barrel scam are all part of a ploy to undermine the opposition in the 2016 elections, according to Sen. Jinggoy Estrada.

Estrada has filed a counteraffidavit to the plunder complaint against him in the Office of the Ombudsman, and has denied having any hand in the scam or ties with the alleged mastermind, Janet Lim-Napoles.

Estrada insisted that he neither amassed ill-gotten wealth nor took part in the transfer of any amount from his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to anyone, except the legitimate beneficiaries.

The senator said he also did not receive any amount from Napoles nor associated himself with her or any of the nongovernment organizations she controlled.

Undermining opposition

“I believe that this is nothing more than a high-level political ploy to undermine the opposition of which I am part [of] in light of the coming 2016 national elections,” Estrada said in a statement.

Estrada is facing the plunder complaint together with Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Ramon Revilla Jr., Napoles and 34 others.

In a special audit last year, the Commission on Audit reported that P6.2 billion in pork was transferred to 82 NGOs from 2007 to 2009, including at least eight that had links to Napoles.

The funds were allegedly sourced from the pork entitlements of Revilla (P413.29 million), Enrile (P332.7 million), Estrada (P191.58 million) and Gregorio Honasan (P14.55 million).

Estrada said he also had no hand in the implementation of projects funded with PDAF. If at all, his participation was “limited” to identifying a project from a menu for funding, he said.

He also said that his endorsement of certain NGOs from a limited list of accredited NGOs was “recommendatory at best” and that the final choice of the NGO lay with the implementing agency.

“These endorsements merely reflected the choice of intended project beneficiaries and was based on the willingness of the NGO to undertake the chosen project, and subject to compliance with existing accounting and auditing rules and regulations,” he said.

Defends secretary

Estrada also defended his former appointments secretary Pauline Labayen, who is also facing a complaint in the Ombudsman over the scam. He said there was no probable cause to hold her for plunder.

“At no time did I instruct or persuade any of my staff to commit and participate in any illegal act, specifically in any irregular and unlawful transaction involving my PDAF allocation, nor did I order or influence them to receive any commission, kickbacks or rebates from Napoles, Benhur Luy and their associates,” he said.

Estrada said the charges against him were not backed by hard facts, but by “bare allegations of secondhand information, hearsay, malicious suspicion and speculations.”

He noted that the whistleblowers admitted in various instances that they had no personal knowledge of the alleged transactions between him and Napoles.

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First posted 12:57 am | Saturday, January 11th, 2014