At least six senators allowed their 2012 Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or commonly known as "pork barrel funds" to be used by questionable livelihood projects of Janet Lim-Napoles’ dummy groups, according to a 2012 report of the Commission on Audit (COA) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
The reports on the websites of the COA and the DBM showed that the activities of Napoles, the alleged mastermind behind a P10-billion swindling scheme, went on not only for much of the graft-ridden administration of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo but also continued well into the “daang matuwid” regime of President Aquino.
Mentioned in the reports were Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, Ramon Revilla Jr., Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Vicente Sotto III and Loren Legarda. They allegedly allowed the nongovernment organizations (NGOs) controlled by Napoles access to their allocations under the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).
All six senators denied any wrongdoing.
The PDAF, or pork barrel, is meant to ease rural poverty and provide relief to storm victims, among many others. In many cases, however, the PDAF has become a source of kickbacks for lawmakers.
In the 2012 reports of COA and the DBM, Estrada gave P63 million of his PDAF to the Napoles NGOs in four local government units (LGUs), Marcos, P40 million to four towns, Legarda, P25 million to three LGUs, Sotto, P20 million to two LGUs, Revilla, P20 million to two towns and Enrile, P10 million to one municipality.
In previous reports by whistle-blowers to the National Bureau of Investigation that the Inquirer published in July and the COA special audit from 2007 to 2009, only senators in the opposition were mentioned, giving rise to criticism that they were the object of an administration “demolition” job. The accusers said the schemes generated kickbacks of up to 70 percent.--Source: Inquirer.net
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| (L-R) Senators Enrile, Legarda, Revilla, Estrada, Marcos and Sotto |
The reports on the websites of the COA and the DBM showed that the activities of Napoles, the alleged mastermind behind a P10-billion swindling scheme, went on not only for much of the graft-ridden administration of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo but also continued well into the “daang matuwid” regime of President Aquino.
Mentioned in the reports were Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, Ramon Revilla Jr., Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Vicente Sotto III and Loren Legarda. They allegedly allowed the nongovernment organizations (NGOs) controlled by Napoles access to their allocations under the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).
All six senators denied any wrongdoing.
The PDAF, or pork barrel, is meant to ease rural poverty and provide relief to storm victims, among many others. In many cases, however, the PDAF has become a source of kickbacks for lawmakers.
In the 2012 reports of COA and the DBM, Estrada gave P63 million of his PDAF to the Napoles NGOs in four local government units (LGUs), Marcos, P40 million to four towns, Legarda, P25 million to three LGUs, Sotto, P20 million to two LGUs, Revilla, P20 million to two towns and Enrile, P10 million to one municipality.
In previous reports by whistle-blowers to the National Bureau of Investigation that the Inquirer published in July and the COA special audit from 2007 to 2009, only senators in the opposition were mentioned, giving rise to criticism that they were the object of an administration “demolition” job. The accusers said the schemes generated kickbacks of up to 70 percent.--Source: Inquirer.net