Napoles: ‘Pa-siyam na ni Benhur’

Bea Cupin

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

(UPDATED) Another former employee of Janet Lim Napoles testifies that she heard her boss talk about the prayers for the dead just before detaining Benhur Luy

File photo of Benhur Luy testifying during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee's probe into the pork barrel scam. Photo by Rappler

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – They weren’t sure if “Madame Jenny” was joking, or if Benhur Luy was really in trouble.

Nearly two months after Luy went missing — allegedly because he was detained by alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles and her brother Reynald Lim — Napoles was heard saying, “Pa-siyam na ni Benhur.

Pa-siyam refers to the Filipino tradition of offering prayers for the departed for 9 days after his burial.

This was the testimony made by Arlene Baltazar, a former Napoles employee, on Monday, October 7, at the hearing for Napoles’ petition for bail before the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150.

Napoles and her brother are facing charges of serious illegal detention – actually a non-bailable offense – filed by the justice department. National Bureau of Investigation agents rescued Benhur from Napoles’ Taguig City condominium in March.

Baltazar, who came to the hearing wearing a bullet-proof vest and escorted by government agents, worked for Napoles in different capacities from 2006 to 2013.

According to her sworn statement, Baltazar was asked by Napoles to be president of Tanglaw Para sa Magsasaka Foundation Inc, one of Napoles’ bogus non-governmental organizations used to access and misuse lawmakers’ pork barrel funds.

Benhur’s ‘transactions’

On Dec 19, 2012, at the JLN office in Discovery Suites, a “hysterical” Napoles called Baltazar and her co-employees Marina Sula and Mia Alvarez to her office.

Galit na galit siya kay Benhur Luy,” said Baltazar. (She was very angry at Benhur.)

Napoles was going through the messages in Benhur Luy’s cellphone. At first, Baltazar said, Napoles was upset over messages from a certain “Flor” — a fortune teller Napoles was annoyed at.

But Napoles later realized that Benhur was dabbing into Napoles’ line of business, independently trying to solicit projects designed to take money from lawmakers’ pork barrel. 

The prosecution’s witness last week, Merlina Suñas, recounted the same details before the Makati court. Suñas said Napoles was upset because Benhur had “hidden transactions” with the chiefs-of-staff of several senators.

READ: Kapunan: Witness wasn’t Napoles’ employee

Baltazar said after Benhur was taken to an adjacent Discovery Suites unit, Napoles ordered the transfer of Luy’s Metrobank funds to a JLN account. JLN employees forged signatures to validate the fund transfer.

Baltazar said she next saw Benhur during the investigation into the pork barrel scam.

‘Ready to kill’

Another witness in the case, Benhur’s sister Annabelle Luy, said Lim threatened to kill Benhur over his “transactions.”

Lim was forcing Benhur to admit that he had hidden transactions in JLN.

Kung hindi ka umamin, convicted criminal na ako. Handa akong pumatay para sa ate ko. At sabi ni ate, hina-hunting ka na ng mga senators at mayors, ” Lim allegedly told Benhur before his siblings and parents February this year.

(If you don’t admit that you have transactions similar to [Janet Lim Napoles’]… I’m a convicted criminal, I’m ready to kill for my sister. And [Napoles] already said you’re being hunted down by the senators and mayors.)

READ: How Janet Lim-Napoles got away

In 2010, Lim and his wife, Anna Marie Dulguime were convicted by the Sandiganbayan’s 4th Division for falsification of public documents over a dubious contract with the Philippine Marines. The couple did not go to jail because they pleaded for probation.

Lim also threatened Benhur with legal action. “Pag hindi ka umamin Benhur, i-endorse na kita kay Atty Villamor. Alam mo naman siya may hawak ng kaso ni Chavit,” Lim said, according to Annabelle Luy.

(If you don’t admit, I’ll endorse you to Atty Villamor. He handles the cases of Chavit [Singson].)

Luy was rescued from Napoles’ unit in Pacific Plaza by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). When the NBI arrived, Benhur pleaded with them to let Lim go.

READ: Benhur Luy was never detained, court told

Benhur later told the NBI he thought they had been sent by “senators and mayors” implicated in Napoles’ transactions.

Bail hearings

Baltazar and Annabelle Luy are the prosecution’s fourth and fifth witnesses in the hearing for Napoles’ motion for bail. Napoles, the alleged mastermind of the multi-billion peso pork barrel and Malampaya fund scams, is currently detained in a police training camp in Laguna.

Napoles and her brother Reynald Lim face charges for detaining Luy from December 2012 to March 2013. Napoles surrendered to the President in Malacañang in August, while Lim is still at large.

The next hearing has been set for Monday, October 14, at 2 pm. – Rappler.com

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Bea Cupin

Bea is a senior multimedia reporter who covers national politics. She's been a journalist since 2011 and has written about Congress, the national police, and the Liberal Party for Rappler.