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RECAP: Dennis Cunanan at Senate hearing on PDAF scam, March 6

By KAREN GALARPE, GMA News

The Senate blue ribbon committee conducted on Thursday the ninth public hearing on the P10-billion Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam allegedly involving lawmakers.

Dennis Cunanan, director general (on leave) of Technology Resource Center, answered senators' questions about what he knows of the alleged scam involving trader Janet Lim-Napoles.

Napoles allegedly used the PDAF of certain lawmakers to fund ghost projects, and gave kickbacks to them. 

READ: Cunanan to face questions on wealth at Senate 'pork' probe

9:19 a.m.: Senate blue ribbon committee chairman TG Guingona reminds Dennis Cunanan that he is expected to readily give answers to their questions—"nang walang paliguy-ligoy"—truthful and complete.

9:21 a.m.: Hearing starts. Guingona says the committee will grant the same privileges to Cunanan as they gave to whistleblower Benhur Luy pending approval by the Senate president.

9:23 a.m.: Sen. Chiz Escudero asks Cunanan if it is true that according to his affidavit, he did not commit any crime. Cunanan replies in the affirmative.

9:27 a.m.: Escudero reads from Luy's affidavit that Cunanan received kickback from the scam. Justice Sec. Leila de Lima says they also asked Cunanan the same question when he applied as state witness, and she says Cunanan denied receiving any kickback from Napoles. Luy, however, recounts an instance when Cunanan met with Napoles and Evelyn de Leon of the Philippine Social Development Foundation, Inc. (PSDFI)—one of Napoles' NGOs—in the conference room of JLN Corporation in their Discovery Suites office. Their code name for him is "Sir DeCu." Luy says he prepared P960,000 for Cunanan then.




9:31 a.m.: Cunanan denies receiving any kickback, gets teary eyed, and says if he indeed benefited from the alleged scam, he would not have blacklisted in the TRC the NGOs of Napoles after he saw the report of the Commission on Audit.



 
9:41 a.m.: Escudero and De Lima discuss the requirements for a person to be admitted in the Witness Protection Program.

9:46 a.m.: Escudero asks De Lima if the Department of Justice will accept Napoles as state witness too. De Lima says no. "For now she has not admitted to anything. For now she has not mentioned any name. But is that the real situation? Is that the truth? I don't think so," de Lima says.


9:50 a.m.: Escudero apologizes for bringing up Napoles' security arrangements but he is just wondering why the businesswoman needs all that. De Lima says they can always talk about it.

9:51 a.m.: Escudero asks Luy why he fired his lawyer Levito Baligod. Luy says he has been praying, and wrote the letter to Baligod after observing that the latter has become busier. 



READ: Benhur Luy: Ex-counsel Baligod lacked time to assist in my legal cases

 
9:56 a.m.: Sen. JV Ejercito asks De Lima how many have been charged so far in the pork scam case. De Lima says 38 in the first batch of raps, and 34 in the second batch. Ejercito then asks about the number of state witnesses. De Lima replies that the total is seven, the last two being Ruby Tuason and Cunanan. The case is strong already, especially in establishing probable cause, she adds.

10:11 a.m.: Sen. Sonny Angara asks why the DOJ accepted Cunanan into the WPP. De Lima says there is no other direct testimony available. Angara then asks De Lima if Cunanan's testimony can be corroborated. De Lima says it can be corroborated against Luy's testimony and existing documents.

10:17 a.m.: Cunanan explains to Angara TRC's mission as repository for all applicable technologies for development. He says when it was established, it was a recipient of foreign funds and it implemented projects for technological and livelihood development. 


10:30 a.m.: Cunanan says many transactions did not go through him, and that from 2007 to 2009, P2.44 billion worth of PDAF went to TRC as implementing agency.



10:35 a.m.: Sen. Grace Poe asks Cunanan if it is true that he went to JLN Corp.'s office at Discovery Center. Cunanan says he is not sure but most likely it may have happened in the process of inspection. Poe asks Cunanan if he received any kickback. Cunanan denies it. 


READ: Cunanan grilled over ‘contradicting’ statements on pork scam



10:51 a.m.: After Sen. Poe asks Cunanan about his academic records, career, and Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago says Cunanan's scholastic record is "magulo." 


11:01 a.m.: Santiago asks Cunanan how he can be considered a direct witness (a requirement to be state witness) when he has not met personally the people involved in the scam as he claimed. "I told you, let it go," she says, reminding him to tell the truth.



11:07 a.m.: Santiago asks Cunanan if he never suspected that Napoles and de Leon were involved in any giving of kickbacks when he met them, considering that they were dealing with government funds. "Mahirap na paniwalaan na hindi ka tumatanggap," Santiago says.



11:09 a.m.: Santiago asks Cunanan if he knows who is behind the demolition job against him. Cunanan says those involved in the scam may have done it. Santiago rattles off the names of Enrile, Revilla, and Estrada.



11:17 a.m.: Cunanan says the endorsement letters from senators involved in the scam already specified the NGO that will receive their PDAF.



READ: Cunanan: Lawmakers ‘assigned’ NGOs for pork releases; TRC had no choice

11:22 a.m.: Santiago asks Cunanan why he did not establish a bureau to check if a senator indeed authorized the release of his PDAF to a certain NGO. "What standard of diligence did you use?" Santiago asks, noting that Cunanan just made phone calls to verify the releases. Cunanan says when he was deputy director, the director assigned the legislative liaison office to make the verification. Then, when he became the director, TRC put in place a verification process that was recognized by COA.


11:29 a.m.: Santiago asks Cunanan why, after he verified with Revilla and Estrada, he only talked to Atty. Gigi Reyes, then the chief of staff of Enrile, and not Enrile himself about the latter's pork-funded projects at TRC. Cunanan says he was just referred to an authorized representative. Santiago then asks that if this was a conspiracy, who does he think was the mastermind. Cunanan replies that he does not know.

11:38 a.m.: Santiago asks Cunanan why he believes that Reyes was speaking on Enrile's behalf even when he was not able to speak to the senator himself. Cunanan says TRC dealt with the office of the senator. Then after more questions from Santiago, Cunanan says he himself finds it hard to believe that Enrile was not aware of the dealings of Reyes with the TRC.

11:47 a.m.: Santiago concludes her questioning by lamenting that Reyes is being made the scapegoat—"hinuhulog." She adds, "I think the best thing for Reyes to do is to return the money that Enrile stole, then turn the tables and be a state witness. You have any opinion on this? Don't answer the question."



11:54 a.m.: Sen. Bam Aquino asks Cunanan, then Luy, who they talked to for Napoles' NGO projects. Luy mentions Pauline Labayen at the office of Estrada.


12:05 p.m.: Aquino asks Cunanan why he did not do anything back in 2008 or 2009 when billions of pesos were involved in the pork barrel-funded projects coursed through TRC. Cunanan says he was then deputy director and had limited powers. He adds he was on the lookout for anything adverse, and the reports were fine, until the special audit was done.


12:08 p.m.: Sen. Poe resumes asking Cunanan about his SALN. Cunanan says his assets are P2.161 million as of 2012, and that he is renting a house owned by his sibling. Sen. Poe questions Cunanan about his salary and expenses, and asks if he can afford to live in a private subdivision and pay for maintenance costs with that salary. She reminds him that this is Cunanan's chance to tell the truth.

12:21 p.m.: Sen. Poe admits she is apprehensive about having Cunanan as state witness given the discrepancy in his testimony, but tells de Lima "I trust your judgment."

12:22 p.m.: De Lima says that in their evaluation of possible state witnesses, they focus on whether they meet the requirements of the law for becoming a state witness. "The forfeiture (of assets) is not a condition for a state witness," she adds. De Lima also says, "We never impose on our witnesses."

12:30 p.m.: Senator Koko Pimentel questions Luy's account about the P960,000 that was supposed to have been given to Cunanan, saying Luy was not certain that indeed the money went into the hands of Cunanan.

READ: Benhur Luy: I saw Cunanan carrying paper bag where ‘pork’ cut was placed

12:35 p.m.: Pimentel then urges De Lima to act swiftly on the plunder cases, but the DOJ chief says they can do so in cooperation with the Ombudsman.

12:38 p.m.: Pimentel also inquires about some phrases in Cunanan's affidavit, saying "Sen. Bong Revilla got hundreds of millions... if not billions; ...while as with Sen. Jinggoy Estrada only millions." Cunanan says, "we are just doing our job, Your Honor."

12:42 p.m.: De Lima makes clarifications on Sen. Nancy Binay's question, saying "we at the DOJ are not prosecutors. It's the Ombudsman."

12:44 p.m.: Sen. Binay also asks De Lima: "Do state witnesses have benefits?" De Lima says: "Only personal security. No financial assistance."

12:55 p.m.: Binay asks Cunanan how he got the position of deputy director general. He says it was part of a "change management" bid of the TRC. It was not a plantilla position. His task was to rationalize the management. Asked if the TRC had deals with NGOs during his time as director, Cunanan says no.

1:00 p.m.: Sen. Cynthia Villar asks De Lima when would the cases be filed. The DOJ chief says, "Walang exact time frame, pero malapit na po siguro kasi nakapag-submit na ng mga affidavit. De Lima says that so far, three senators and five House lawmakers are among those who would soon be formally charged.

1:09 p.m.: Guingona reads questions sent by Sen. Bong Revilla. Below are some of the questions and Cunanan's answers.

Q. 'Di ba three plunder cases ang hinaharap mo?
A. Two po.
Q. If you are admitted sa WPP, mawawala na cases mo?
A. Confident po ang mga abogado ko na maaayos ang kaso ko.
Q. Personal mo ba akong kakilala?
A. Hindi po.
Q. Nagkasama na ba tayo minsan sa isang okasyon?
A. Hindi. 
Q. Normal ba sa isang senador na natawagan ang hindi pa niya kakilala?
A. Opisina po niya ang tumawag sa aming opisina at ipinasa sa akin ang telepono.
Q. Magkano ang sweldo at benefits mo? 
A. P70k+ monthly

READ: Despite absence at Senate probe, Bong Revilla grills Cunanan on supposed ‘pork’ deal phone call

1:32 p.m.: Cunanan says it would have been better if Revilla were present at the hearing. Shortly after, the hearing is adjourned.


—with Luis Gorgonio/YA, GMA News
Tags: bantaykaban, denniscunanan, porkbarrelscamhearing, porkbarrelscam, pdaf
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