NABCOR president: 3 former execs conspired to divert ‘pork’ to bogus NGOs

Allegations of corruption continue to haunt state-owned National Agribusiness Corp. (NABCOR) even as it winds down its operations.

In an exclusive interview aired on GMA News' “24 Oras” Thursday evening, NABCOR president Honesto Baniqued bared an alleged conspiracy among three of NABCOR's former officials to funnel the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF)—or pork barrel fund—of 83 lawmakers to bogus non-government organizations (NGOs).

“In my personal opinion, I think they did a lot of nasty things here in this company. It (NABCOR) is vulnerable to corruption because of its flexibility. Sabi ko nga, it depends on who sits and takes charge of this company, whether to do good or to do bad,” Baniqued said.

Baniqued was referring to NABCOR's former president Alan Javellana, former vice president for finance Rhodora Mendoza and former general services supervisor Victor Roman Cacal.

Baniqued said NABCOR has documents to prove that the three conspired to course the lawmakers' PDAF to the bogus NGOs of detained businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged architect of the pork scam.

Javellana, Mendoza and Cacal are among the 38 government officials and lawmakers facing plunder raps before the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the pork barrel scam.

“[Projects worth] P500,000 or P1 million up silang dalawa (Javellana and Mendoza) lang ang puwede pumirma e. Yung operations nila, hindi alam kung ano nangyayari doon sa finance,” Baniqued said.

Asked if there was a conspiracy between Mendoza and Javellana, Baniqued replied: “Of course! Eh, siya (Mendoza) yung VP for finance niya e. Yan ang right hand niya talaga.”



Javellana served as NABCOR president from 2007 to 2009, while Mendoza left the agency last year after being implicated in the pork scam. Cacal, on the other hand, left the agency in January.

Baniqued said Mendoza even threatened him when he personally asked her to resign.

“We asked her (Mendoza) to resign. But during the time na nag-reresign siya, katakot-takot ang ginawang pambu-bully sa'min niyan. Ang daming mga text messages, talagang galit. Sabi niya, 'Nagkamali ka na ako yung tinanggal mo', kasi siya raw ang dapat kong i-retain dahil mas marami siyang nalalaman,” Baniqued said.

Mendoza and Cacal had earlier expressed intentions to apply as state witnesses on the pork barrel case.

Based on documents Mendoza and Cacal submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman, a total of P1,246,770,000 in PDAF allocations were coursed through NABCOR by 83 lawmakers—including Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and former Senator Edgardo Angara from 2007 to 2010.

Of this amount, P925,372,225 was transferred by NABCOR to various NGOs including those linked to Napoles.

Based on Mendoza's documents, the bogus Napoles NGOs that allegedly received funds from NABCOR were:

• Masaganang Ani Para sa Magsasaka Foundation, Inc. — P141,802,500
• People's Organization for Progress and Development Foundation, Inc.— P22,575,000
• and Social Development Program for Farmers Foundation, Inc. — P210,119,850

Meanwhile, Mendoza and Cacal's legal counsel, Levito Baligod, said there are more incumbent officials of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and NABCOR involved in the pork scam.

Though he refused to name these officials for now, Baligod said his clients are already preparing plunder charges against them.

“Wag muna ngayon dahil malapit na pong mai-submit namin yung complaint affidavit, dahil dinedetalye namin dun yung ginawa nilang (DA and NABCOR officials) sistema sa bawat pondo na yan,” Baligod said.

Baligod added he is currently talking to three other people who also have knowledge on the pork scam and who are willing to testify.

NABCOR, as the corporate arm of the DA, is mandated to invest in agribusiness enterprises in the countryside to improve the productivity and income of local farmers. It raises funds through loans and grants and private sector investment through joint ventures.

Last year, Malacañang ordered NABCOR abolished after it was linked to the pork scam. — Elizabeth Marcelo/JDS, GMA News