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Guingona: Napoles to be invited to future Malampaya fund scam hearings
By XIANNE ARCANGEL, GMA News
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(Updated 11:26 p.m.) Although Janet Lim-Napoles was not invited to the first Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on the alleged misuse of the P900-million Malampaya Fund, committee chair Sen. Teofisto Guingona III told GMA News Online on Sunday that Napoles would have an opportunity to testify in subsequent hearings.
Guingona explained that the initial hearing on Monday would concentrate on the Commission on Audit (COA) report on the purported irregularities in the use of the Malampaya Fund because “it is the official government report on the matter.”
Invited for Monday’s hearing were COA chair Grace Pulido-Tan and Assistant Commissioner Susan Garcia, the leader of the special audit team which reviewed the usage of the Malampaya Fund.
The Senate blue ribbon committee originally set the hearing on the controversy last September, but it was called off by Guingona because both Tan and Garcia were unavailable.
“We will be inviting others, including JLN [Janet Lim Napoles] at the later hearings,” Guingona said.
The full list of witnesses who have been invited to appear before committee has not yet been released.
Napoles, the alleged mastermind of the P10-billion pork barrel scam, was also tagged in the purported misuse of the Malampaya gas royalties. She has been charged with plunder in connection with the anomaly.
‘What are they so scared of?’
United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) interim president Toby Tiangco has, meanwhile, questioned the blue ribbon committee’s decision not to invite Napoles to the opening of its inquiry on the Malampaya fund scam.
"Bakit ayaw ipatawag ni Sen. Guingona si Napoles, samantalang noong kasagsagan ng PDAF (Priority Development Assistance Fund) hearings [ay] gusto nilang personal mismo itong humarap sa kanila? What are they so scared of? What I see are frightened faces of some allies of Administration kapag nagsimulang magbigay ng pangalan si Napoles," Tiangco said in a statement Sunday.
He added that Guingona should not ignore Napoles's sworn affidavit, submitted last May, in which she claimed socialite Ruby Tuason received a 60 percent commission from the illicit scheme while the remaining balance was split with "other parties," including 97 local executives who benefited from the operations.
While admitting she received a five-percent kickback from the transactions, Napoles had said Tuason, a government witness in the pork barrel scam, was the real mastermind of the Malampaya fund scam.
Tiangco also said the Senate and the Department of Justice appeared not to have plans to investigate the 97 mayors implicated in the scam, most of whom he claimed were members of the Liberal Party (LP).
“LP allies in the Senate seem to be hiding something that's why they don't want Napoles to appear before the Malampaya Fund probe. The Senate and the DOJ have no plans of going after members of the Liberal Party who benefited from PDAF,” he claimed. — BM/DVM/KG, GMA News
Guingona explained that the initial hearing on Monday would concentrate on the Commission on Audit (COA) report on the purported irregularities in the use of the Malampaya Fund because “it is the official government report on the matter.”
Invited for Monday’s hearing were COA chair Grace Pulido-Tan and Assistant Commissioner Susan Garcia, the leader of the special audit team which reviewed the usage of the Malampaya Fund.
The Senate blue ribbon committee originally set the hearing on the controversy last September, but it was called off by Guingona because both Tan and Garcia were unavailable.
“We will be inviting others, including JLN [Janet Lim Napoles] at the later hearings,” Guingona said.
The full list of witnesses who have been invited to appear before committee has not yet been released.
Napoles, the alleged mastermind of the P10-billion pork barrel scam, was also tagged in the purported misuse of the Malampaya gas royalties. She has been charged with plunder in connection with the anomaly.
‘What are they so scared of?’
United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) interim president Toby Tiangco has, meanwhile, questioned the blue ribbon committee’s decision not to invite Napoles to the opening of its inquiry on the Malampaya fund scam.
"Bakit ayaw ipatawag ni Sen. Guingona si Napoles, samantalang noong kasagsagan ng PDAF (Priority Development Assistance Fund) hearings [ay] gusto nilang personal mismo itong humarap sa kanila? What are they so scared of? What I see are frightened faces of some allies of Administration kapag nagsimulang magbigay ng pangalan si Napoles," Tiangco said in a statement Sunday.
He added that Guingona should not ignore Napoles's sworn affidavit, submitted last May, in which she claimed socialite Ruby Tuason received a 60 percent commission from the illicit scheme while the remaining balance was split with "other parties," including 97 local executives who benefited from the operations.
While admitting she received a five-percent kickback from the transactions, Napoles had said Tuason, a government witness in the pork barrel scam, was the real mastermind of the Malampaya fund scam.
Tiangco also said the Senate and the Department of Justice appeared not to have plans to investigate the 97 mayors implicated in the scam, most of whom he claimed were members of the Liberal Party (LP).
“LP allies in the Senate seem to be hiding something that's why they don't want Napoles to appear before the Malampaya Fund probe. The Senate and the DOJ have no plans of going after members of the Liberal Party who benefited from PDAF,” he claimed. — BM/DVM/KG, GMA News
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