Ombudsman prober: Dead people, toddler listed as beneficiaries of Jinggoy’s ‘pork’ projects

Aside from deceased people, even a toddler was listed among the beneficiaries of supposed projects funded by the pork barrel allocations of Senator Jinggoy Estrada, an Ombudsman field investigator testified Tuesday.

Lawyer Vic Escalante told the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division during Estrada's bail hearing that none of the local officials and listed beneficiaries in the provinces they went to said they benefitted from a project funded by Estrada's pork barrel or Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

"All the beneficiaries denied receiving the kits funded by the PDAF of Estrada. Some of them disclosed that their relatives or spouses who were also included in the list were already dead," he said.

"A father of one of the listed beneficiaries said his son is only one year old and seven months," Escalante added.

Escalante said they conducted their field interview and verification from June to July 2013.

"We visited the provinces and barangays to verify if the projects were really implemented and if the persons on the list were actual residents there," he said.

He said some of the areas they went to were Umingan, Pangasinan; Mabitac, Laguna; Agusan del Norte; Surigao del Sur; Carascal; San Agustin; Prosperidad; San Luis; Esperanza; and Zamboanga.

He said most if not all of the municipal or city mayors and agriculturists they asked had denied implementing projects funded by Estrada's PDAF.

"They denied implementing projects, they also denied their signatures in the acknowledgment receipt and delivery report,"Escalante said.

The projects supposedly implemented were livelihood program with distribution of manicure/pedicure kits and distribution of farm kits. —KBK, GMA News