Dumpit, others face graft raps over pork scam

The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the indictment of a businessman dubbed the “male version” of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles over the allegedly anomalous use of P66.5 million in pork barrel allotments of former La Union Rep. Thomas Dumpit Jr. from 2007 to 2009.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales on Friday said Godofredo Roque was among the 42 individuals found liable for the supposed misuse of Dumpit’s pork barrel which he allegedly deployed to livelihood projects for his constituents.

Roque and his own network of spurious foundations have been under the radar since the P10-billion pork barrel racket of Napoles broke out in 2013.

A senior official from the Department of Justice had previously disclosed that Roque’s group, which had its own contacts of lawmakers and local government officials, was actually bigger than Napoles’ network.

Morales said Dumpit, Roque and the others were charged with 15 counts of graft, six counts of malversation of public funds and nine counts of malversation through falsification of public documents.

Special treatment

Echoing the Supreme Court’s decision which struck down the pork barrel system, officially known as Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), as unconstitutional, the Ombudsman argued that it was the lawmaker “who exercises actual control and custody of the PDAF share.”

“Noteworthy is the extraordinary accommodation extended to the [foundations] in the examination, processing and approval by the concerned [agencies] in the PDAF releases [for Dumpit],” Morales said.

“In some instances, the disbursement vouchers were accomplished, signed and approved within a one day interval, if not the same day,” she said.

The livelihood training projects financed by his PDAF were coursed through the National Livelihood Development Corp., the National Agri-Business Corp. and the Technological Livelihood Resource Center.

The Ombudsman said Dumpit named Aaron Foundation of the Philippines Inc., Kabuhayan at Kalusugan Alay sa Masa Foundation Inc. and Kasangga sa Magandang Bukas Foundation Inc. as project implementors in violation of the government’s procurement law.