Whistleblower: Napoles instructed me to withdraw millions from banks

Merlina Suñas, one of the whistleblowers in the alleged pork barrel scam, told the court Thursday that her former boss, alleged scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles, had often sent her on bank errands to withdraw millions of pesos that will be given to senators as kickbacks.

“Nagta-transact po ako sa mga banko, nagwi-withdraw para sa mga NGO accounts,” Suñas said at the witness stand during the hearing for Sen. Ramon Bong Revilla Jr's petition for bail.

She said among the banks where she made withdrawals were Landbank DepEd, Landbank Pasig and Metrobank Greenhills.

Revilla, Napoles, as well as Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Jinggoy Estrada, are facing graft and plunder charges in connection with the supposed scam.

The senators are accused of funneling their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), the formal name of pork barrel, to bogus non-government organizations (NGOs) linked to Napoles.

In her direct testimony, Suñas was questioned on her role within the JLN Corporation, the Napoles-owned company that transacted with lawmakers.

“Nagwi-withdraw ako ng P10 million above, sa utos ni Ma’am Jenny Napoles. Savings account yun, may passbook,” Suñas said, narrating how Napoles would order her to withdraw the money using pre-signed withdrawal slips.

“Si Ma’am Jenny Napoles ang nagtatago ng withdrawal slips at passbooks. Inuuwi ko po sa JLN Corporation office [yung pera,] nire-remit mismo kay Mrs. Napoles,” Suñas said.

Suñas also revealed that for at least two years, the supposed beneficiaries of Napoles’ NGOs were not able to receive any deliveries of crops and other farming implements.

“Maraming projects ng senators ay ang tinatawag na ghost deliveries. Lalo na yung mula 2007 to 2009. Sana it should have reached our farmers pero almost 100 percent are ghost deliveries,” she said. —KBK, GMA News