Kuryente, Bulaklak, Kulit: Whistleblower hints at more code names

And the guessing game continues.

 

After "Sexy, Tanda, and Pogi" made headlines as code names for senators allegedly involved in the "pork barrel" fund scam, a whistleblower has once again thrown out in the open more clues for the public to work on.

 

Merlina Suñas, fund scam whistleblower and former employee of embattled businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, revealed that they have also codenamed other lawmakers involved in the anomaly as "Bulaklak, Kulit, and Kuryente."

 

Suñas said that while it was Napoles who assigned some code names like "Sexy," she and the rest of Napoles's employees at JLN Corp were the ones giving code names to the other lawmakers based on their appearance and demeanor, among other considerations.

 

She said folders containing documents of their transactions with a particular senator are labeled under his or her code name.

 

"Iyong iba dahil guwapo, pogi. Iyong iba naman... 'yung isa dahil sa tungkol sa ano... kuryente. Mayroon ding Kulit, mayroon ding Matanda, may Bulaklak. Kami-kami na ang nagbibigay ng alyas nila. Lahat may code," she said in an interview with GMA's Unang Balita.

 

 

"Kami na po ang nagbansag based on their katangian and itsura. Then the rest, kung saan siya nanggaling, (or) matapang ba o mabait," she added.

 

Suñas said they would assign code names to the lawmkaers so "kapag may bisita, 'pag may maka-glance sa folders namin, hindi nila malalaman sino sila."

Luy's testimony

 

On Thursday, Suñas's fellow whistleblower Benhur Luy, another former JLN Corp. employee, faced a Senate inquiry to detail the process of how their company diverted some P10 billion in Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF) of several lawmakers to non-existent foundations run by Napoles, then how the money would be split up between the lawmakers and Napoles.

 

Luy revealed that one of the lawmakers who had transacted with them was given the code name "Sexy" because he used to be stout but eventually shed some weight.

 

Luy remained tight-lipped as to revealing the names of the lawmakers involved in the scheme, with Justice Secretary Leila de Lima—who also attended the inquiry—saying they did not want the hearing to turn into a "witch-hunt."

 

Suñas says she was happy to see Luy "ready na ready and very confident" when he testified during the Senate inquiry.

 

"Nawala na iyong tinik sa amin dahil nasabi na personally ni Benhur at hindi lang sa affidavit kung tungkol saan itong scheme na ito," she added.

Just the initial stage

 

For his part, lawyer Levito Baligod, legal counsel for the whistleblowers, said Luy's testimony and the plunder charges they were preparing were only the initial stage of their efforts to pin down those responsible for the government fund irregularities.

 

"Medyo nakahinga sila (whistleblowers) ng kaunti kasi tapos na namin first batch. Pero panandalian lang 'yang respite. Ang isusunod namin ang malversation of public funds," he said.

 

"Magsisimula kami uli para sa susunod na mga makakasuhan," he added.

 

Both President Benigno Aquino III and De Lima have announced that plunder charges would be filed on Monday with the Office of the Ombudsman.

 

De Lima said those charges comprise only the first batch, and the next batches of cases would be filed as soon as the National Bureau of Investigation finishes building up a strong case against those to be charged. —Mark Merueñas/KG, GMA News