Alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles and four other co-respondents on Friday pleaded not guilty for their involvement in the alleged misuse of Davao del Sur’s Gov. Douglas Cagas’ Priority Development Assistance Fund during his term as congressman.
Napoles entered her plea before the Sandiganbayan Second Division for two counts each of violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and malversation of public funds as defined under Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code.
Her co-respondents—former Department of Budget and Management undersecretary Mario Relampagos and current DBM officials Rosario Nuñez, Marilou Bare and Lalaine Paule, also pleaded not guilty.
The Ombudsman said that in 2007, Cagas reportedly allocated P16 million of his PDAF or pork barrel to two foundations—Countrywide Agri and Rural Economic and Development Foundation Inc. and Philippine Social Development Foundation, Inc.—supposedly owned by Napoles.
Cagas allegedly personally wrote to the DBM for the release of the funds which were coursed through the Technology Resource Center for livelihood and technical assistance of his constituents in the First District.
But the Ombudsman said the projects turned out to be non-existent, and Napoles and her cohorts participated in the preparation and signing of acceptance of delivery reports, disbursement reports, project proposals and other documents “to conceal the fictitious nature of the transactions.”
Cagas allegedly received kickbacks worth P9.3 million from Napoles for his participation in the scheme.
The Sandiganbayan, however, deferred the arraignment of Cagas due to a pending motion from his lawyers.
Cagas’ son, Marc Douglas Cagas IV, also faces a separate graft and malversation charges before the anti-graft court.
The younger Cagas is accused of allocating P7.550 million of his PDAF during his term as representative of Davao del Sur in 2008 to the Napoles-linked foundations in exchange for alleged kickbacks.
Napoles, on the other hand, is facing numerous graft charges and five plunder charges for her involvement in the multi-billion-peso scheme.