Napoles, brother threatened me and my mother, Benhur Luy tells court

Napoles and Lim have been charged with serious illegal detention for allegedly barring Luy from leaving a room at Discovery Suites for three months following a disagreement. Napoles is currently detained in Laguna while Lim is still at-large.

Gertrudes was present at the courtroom on Friday.

The report said Luy testified on how Lim and Napoles took his cellphone and detained him on December 19, 2012, upon instructions from Napoles.

Luy was initially interrogated by Napoles and Lim at one of the conference rooms of JLN Corporation at Discovery Suites.

"'Pu...ina mo, Benhur. Ikaw pa na kamag-anak ko ang magta-traydor sa akin. Kaya pala nababawasan ang PDAF dahil sa hidden transaction mo sa senador at congressmen,'" Luy quoted Napoles as telling him.

Luy said he was detained after Napoles thought he was having other "transactions" without her consent, the report added.

"'Ikulong na yan, ikulong na yan,'" Napoles reportedly yelled.
Luy said he was frightened at that point because he knew the connections of Napoles.

Letter of apology

In his testimony, Luy said that when Napoles went out of the room that day, Lim asked him to write a letter of apology to Napoles.
Luy said he wrote the following: "Dear Madam, sorry kung inisip niyong traydor ako o nag-ahas ako sa inyo. Madam, bakit niyo ito ginawa sa akin? Marami akong alam sa inyo, marami akong alam sa transaksyon sa opisina."

"Kung napapansin mo sa lahat ng empleyado mo ako 'yung hindi nagka-cash advance, palaging pumapasok sa opisina, sinusunod ang lahat ng inuutos mo. Ginagawa ko lahat ng inuutos mo kahit labag sa kalooban ko," Luy said in his letter.

That letter was, however, revised upon the instruction of Lim to make it appear that the latter was helping Luy. Lim dictated to Luy what to write in the letter.

A copy of the revised letter was presented to Luy who claimed that the original copy is with Lim, according to the report.

Luy said Lim confronted him with documents regarding alleged transactions with lawmakers.

At one point, Lim told Luy, "Tignan mo, may transaction ka kay (Rep. Isidro) Ungab," to which Luy replied, "Na-submit na 'yan sa DA. Sinisingil na namin 'yan.'"

Luy said in his testimony that Alfredo Villamor also talked to him then, ordering him to write down all the transactions he handled for JLN Corp.

While he was writing down the transactions, Lim allegedly ordered him to write the details of his personal bank accounts. hen Luy asked why, Lim told him that that was the order of Napoles.

Lim also reportedly told Luy that he is a convicted criminal and that he would do anything for his sister.

To force Luy to spill the beans, Lim told him that his co-workers already admitted the supposed hidden transactions. Lim told him to tell what he knows to get back at them.

Luy said he replied, "Pakisabi sa kanila sinungaling sila."

Luy said Lim also told him that senators and mayors were very angry and were hunting him for supposedly betraying Napoles.

"Sobrang takot na takot ako kasi alam ko kung gaano kalawak ang koneksyon niya. Kaya niya gawin lahat para hindi masira ang negosyo niya," Luy said.

'Ibigay niyo na lang'

Another lawyer went to where Luy was being held to talk to him, Luy said.

Lawyer Rocky Delson told Lim that they cannot detain Luy because he knows so much and they will be in bigger trouble if they will do so.

Delson told Lim to just let Luy go and give him what he wants.

"Kung ano ang gusto ni Benhur, ibigay niyo na lang. Paalisin niyo na lang siya. Sabihan niyo na lang na 'wag sulutin 'yung mga kliyente niyo," Luy recalled Delson telling Lim.

An older brother of Napoles, William Lim, also went to where Luy was being held.

He said he was told by Napoles that she wanted Luy to be detained for betraying her. William told Luy that he will not allow that as a form of respect to Luy's father, Arturo.

It was at that point that Luy broke into tears as he recalled pleading with William to talk to Napoles and ask her to free him.

"Kuya, pinagbibintangan ako. Tulungan mo ako kausapin si Ate," Luy said, referring to Napoles.

William told him: "Ipagdasal mo ako na makausap ko siya at lumambot ang puso niya."

Asked by the prosecution lawyer why he did not make a similar appeal to Lim, Luy said Lim was angry and was telling him that he will kill Luy and his family for her sister.

Police personnel

Luy also said in his testimony that Lim told him police personnel were at Discovery Suites talking with Atty. Villamor upon Napoles' orders, with regards to Luy's case.

Lim also kept on repeating that the police were sent by the senators and mayors who were angry with Luy.

Around 9 p.m. of the same day, Luy was escorted by Lim and other security officers to one of the hotel suites at Discovery Suites.

While they were walking, Lim told Luy that he should not escape if he does not want anything bad to happen to his family.

Once inside the hotel room, Lim reportedly ordered the telephone operator to cut the line in Luy's room.

There were also security personnel assigned to guard the room and prevent Luy from going out.

At Bahay San Jose

On the evening of December 20, Lim transferred Luy to Bahay San Jose, a retreat house owned by Napoles in Magallanes Village, Makati City.

Luy said Lim warned him against talking to the priests who were staying at Bahay San Jose.

"Sinabihan ako ni Kuya Jojo na 'wag ako magkukwento, 'wag magsasalita. 'Alam mo 'yung situwasyon, alam mo may paglalagyan ka, mahal mo naman ang pamilya mo,'" Luy recalled Lim as telling him.

The illegal detention case filed against Napoles led to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)'s discovery of the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam.

Napoles, who is detained in Laguna for the serious illegal detention, is currently facing plunder complaints for allegedly engineering the pork barrel scam. Also named respondents were Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Bong Revilla. — with Andreo Calonzo/RSJ/KG/KBK, GMA News