SUMMARY
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This is in response to the Senate's order for the whistleblower to submit his hard drive to the blue ribbon committee
MANILA, Philippines – Pork barrel scam whistleblower Benhur Luy asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to submit his controversial hard drive disk to the Senate, which ordered him to submit the disk before its blue ribbon committee.
In a letter dated Tuesday, May 20, to Senator and committee chairman Teofisto “TG” Guingona III, Luy’s lawyer Raymond Joseph Ian Mendoza said they “deem it prudent to refer your directive to the Cybercrime Division of the NBI.”
Luy’s camp previously wrote to NBI Director Virgilio Mendez to request the agency “to produce the hard drive or a copy of the digital contents before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.”
Luy’s request was in compliance with the Senate-issued subpoeana duces tecum compelling him to produce before the legislative chamber the hard drive disk containing evidence implicating lawmakers in the pork barrel scam.
The drive contains Luy’s accounting records that he kept when he was an employee of JLN Corporation, owned by alleged scam mastermind Janet Napoles.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer has published a series of stories that the newspaper said were based on this hard drive. (READ: ‘Napolist’ frenzy reignites Luy-Baligod tussle)
Luy’s records, as accessed by the Inquirer, include bank account numbers and balances spanning 10 years of JLN Corporation.
The published stories say their copy of the dive contains the following: over 500 special allotment release orders (Saros) for more than 100 lawmakers, names in the guest lists for Napoles’ parties, records of Napoles’ properties and houses, remittances abroad for her daughter Jeane, payments of club shares, security and treasury bonds, and minimal tax payments.
The drive was turned over to the NBI in 2013 and is now part of the pool of evidence the state is working on to secure convictions in relation to the illegal diversion of lawmakers’ Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to bogus projects of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) associated with Napoles.
Napoles and at least 3 senators are facing plunder complaints before the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman is preparing to file those charges before the Sandiganbayan.
The Senate, on the other hand, is conducting a probe into the scam in aid of legislation.
Important piece of evidence
It was Luy who first disclosed the elaborate ploy of his former boss to siphon off government funds, after he was rescued by NBI agents in March 2013. Luy was allegedly illegally detained by Napoles and her cousin Reynald Lim.
The Senate blue ribbon committee already has a copy of the so-called Napoles list – names of lawmakers supposedly involved in the scam as identified by Napoles before the DOJ.
To back up the list, De Lima will be submitting the affidavit of Napoles narrating what exactly the alleged scam queen is accusing the people whose names are outlined in the “Napolist.” (READ: De Lima: Guingona’s release of ‘Napolist’ imprudent)
De Lima earlier said she is confident the DOJ can secure convictions even without Napoles’ testimony. – Rappler.com
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