Oink, Oink! The Pork Barrel Scam Fast Facts

It seems "scam" is one of Pinoys' fave pastimes with the latest trend now called the Pork Barrel Scam. Allegedly, five senators and 23 House of Representatives are involved in this current fraudulent act. Kaya di po nakapagtataka na hanggang ngayon walang  masyadong alingasngas na inquiry in either chamber. Dati ang bilis nina Enrile at Jinggoy na magpatawag ng inquiry, ngayon "Nganga!". So anyway, dun sa iba sa atin na medyo tinatamad ng busisiin ang isyu dahil nga palagi na lang may scam dito sa atin, here are the bare facts. 

WHAT:
The Priority Development Assistance Fund (more popularly known as pork barrel) Scam. It is the alleged misused of government funds meant to provide aid to farmers in the country. Amount involved is estimated at Php10-B.

WHEN:
The backroom wheeling and dealing occurred in 2006-2011.

WHO:
Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Bong Revilla, Bongbong Marcos, Jinggoy Estrada, and Gringo Honasan - the five senators named by the whistleblowers.

Enrile: Nobody out-pork barrels me!

Representatives Victor Ortega (La Union), Erwin Chiongbian (Sarangani)  and  Rizalina Lanete (Masbate) - three out of the 23 representatives also named by the whistleblowers. Allegedly, Chiongbian and Lanete earned the most from among the representatives implicated in the scam. Ortega has been the only congressman so far to publicly defend himself against the allegations.  

Janet Lim-Napoles - the central figure in this scam, owner of JLN Group of Companies. She put up fictitious non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as recipients of funds. One of these ghost NGOs is the Masagagang Ani Foundation, which reportedly received a sizable chunk of the pork. Napoles has been implicated in shady dealings prior to this one, prominent of these was  the Fertilizer Scam during the Arroyo Administration.  In 2001, Napoles and her husband, retired Army Maj. Jaime Napoles, were charged by the Ombudsman  (along with some members and officers of the  Navy Marine Corps) for their involvement in the acquisition of substandard Kevlar helmets worth P3.8 million.

Commission on Audit - the agency responsible for the unmasking of the Pork Barrel Scam. CoA has been tracing where the funds went, sending out letters and summons to supposed recipients. CoA found out that some "recipients" were either fictitious or dead while those who are alive said they did not receive any assistance fund and that their signatures were forged.

Department of Agrarian Reform - the agency tasked to distribute the aid to farmers. Yes, the same agency involved in the Fertilizer Scam of 2004-2005.

Benhur Luy and Merlina Sunas - two of the five whistleblowers. Luy was an employee and relative of Napoles. Sunas is also a former employee of JLN. Luy said his former boss used the names of household helpers, drivers, relatives, and employees as heads of the dummy organizations.

Whistleblowers Luy and Sunas: Say "Grease!"

HOW: 
According to the whistleblowers, Napoles allegedly put up about 20 NGOs, then offered lawmakers  huge slice of the worth of projects so she will be awarded the funds. For soft projects, such as the distribution of medicines and fertilizers, lawmakers allegedly pocketed 40-70% of the pork barrel. For hard projects such as those involving infrastructure, the kickback is allegedly 15-25%. She would also give grease money with implementing agencies so that her foundations and NGOs would get the funds and to make sure no one will squeak.

Meet Gigi Reyes, Our 24th Senator

Many were intrigued when Sen. Allan Peter Cayetano insinuated that there's something going on between Manong Johnny and his chief-of-staff  Jessica "Gigi" Reyes, now dubbed as "the other woman" and "our 24th senator."

"Tempted po talaga ako Mr. President na sumagot, tempted ako na magsalita din ng ganyan. Bakit po ako tempted? Bakit po ako natutukso na sumagot? Dahil sa bawat isang kasinungalingan na inilabas sa akin na nilabas ninyo mayroon akong isangdaang katotohanan ang alam ko sa inyo at ni Ma'am Gigi," Cayetano said. 

I googled Madam Gigi and came upon very little information and  few pictures but they're sufficient enough to send the message that this 50-year-old lawyer wield power. Watch the video below and you'll see what I mean.  

Latest reports say she has offered her resignation but Sen. Enrile refused to let her go. Being an octogenarian it seems doesn't prevent  Manong Johnny from appreciating the female of the species. :)

Photos courtesy of Philippine Daily Inquirer and ABS-CBN

Meme Of The Day: "Yung kahoy...san galing yung mga kahoy?"

Heated may not be sufficient to describe the debate between senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Juan Ponce- Enrile.   Fiery, ugly and downright dirty may be enough. And transfixed may be the word that would describe their audience (me included, of course) as two of them argued and threw accusations at each other this afternoon. Their word war surely will cause someone to roll in his grave. 

Senatorial Face-Off: Allan Peter Cayetano and Juan Ponce-Enrile

The furor began when Senate President JPE distributed cash gifts to his fellow senators as Christmas bonus which were sourced from the Senate's savings. The problem was the dough was unevenly distributed, and APC with his co-senator and sister Pia along with other three members of the minority only received measly amounts whereas some members of the "august hall" (that was laced with sarcasm of course), specifically known allies of JPE,  were given over Php2M each. It looks like JPE practices favoritism too, which fanned out the controversy (way faster and wilder than the Australian bushfires),  between him and the other senators notably Miriam Defensor-Santiago and the Cayetano siblings. Defensor-Santiago and JPE's rift can be labelled lame compared to  APC and JPE's confrontation. Mas mainit, mas malaman, mas maanghang po. Skeletons were definitely rattled and kicked out of the closet... dirty linens waved around and washed in public. Insinuations were intellectually stimulating, accusations were expectedly juicy. Need I say more?

Below are some of the "juiciest" cuts. Enjoy!

APC: "Bakit ba kayo inis at galit sa akin personally? Dahil dati na po kayong galit sa akin sapagkat napakalapit po ninyong dalawa ni Atty Gigi sa dating Pangulong GMA at kay First Gentleman. Kasama naman po talaga kayo noon di ba, sa planning group at sa asar na isang katulad ko ay pwedeng tumayo sa Kongreso at labanan sila. At diba si Ma’am Gigi, best friend po niya ang asawa ni Justice Tinga na nakalaban ng asawa ko sa Taguig. At ang hipag naman ni Ma’am Gigi o sister-in-law niya ay isang konsehal sa Taguig na number 1 kritiko ng aking asawa. So every time may hearing dito, pati si Chairman Brillantes, sa inyong opisinang diretso, ako ang inuupakan at minsan tinutulungan niyo pa kaya nagkakasagutan tayo."

JPE: "Tungkol sa iyong yumaong ama. Nandito hanggang ngayon, 'di nabayaran utang niya na ginastos sa opisina namin na tinayo ko para may pakain sa pamilya niya, P37M." 

APC: "Nung siya’y tumakbong senador, he practically gave his life to you. Nung panahon ni President Cory, kayo’y nakulong, siya ang katabi niyo. Nung panahon ng EDSA Revolution, siya ang katabi niyo. Nung kayo’y payaman nang payaman, siya ay nagtiis din sa law office...I don’t remember he owed you P37 million. My father worked for every single centavo and it’s unfair for you to bring that up. E, kung sabihin ko sa iyo ngayon na tatay mo ang may utang sa amin? E paano naman nila mapapaliwanag?”

APC: "Ang bahay namin inutang sa bangko.”

JPE: "Ano ba yung bahay nyo?.. Yung mga kahoy,  saan galing?”   Enrile asked. 

JPE:  “I won't go down to the gutter".APC: "You already did. You involved a person already dead who can't answer...Your chief-of-staff has already gone to the gutter."