Palace: Draft letters from Luy files have no 'probative value'
MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Friday belittled the supposed draft letters linked to lawmakers and Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. found in the files retrieved from pork barrel scam whistle-blower Benhur Luy.
In a press briefing, Presidential Communication Operations Office (PCOO) head Herminio Coloma Jr. pointed out that the purported letters addressed to the officials are unsigned.
"Hence, these could hardly be considered as having any probative value," Coloma said.
According to a STAR report, among those recovered from Luy's files were two draft letters addressed to Ochoa regarding financial assistance for the implementation of livelihood projects for small farmers such as organic farming for high value crops in various local government units.
Read: Draft letters to Noy, Ochoa found in Luy’s files
The amount requested in the draft letter, which has no signatory, amounted to P250 million.
There were also at least two letters addressed to President Aquino where the signatory supposedly sought the approval of P300 million for various projects in areas affected by flooding in Misamis Oriental and Cagayan de Oro.
Also discovered was an unsigned letter supposedly from Senate minority leader Juan Ponce Enrile addressed to Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio Delos Reyes.
Luy had claimed that he and other former employees of Janet Lim-Napoles would forge signatures of lawmakers upon the orders of the businesswoman.
Napoles, the suspected mastermind of the pork barrel scam, allegedly got authorization from the lawmakers.
Napoles has been accused of conspiring with Enrile and other officials in funneling pork barrel funds and the Malampaya funds to her bogus foundations using government agencies as conduits.
Like her and Enrile, Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr. have also been indicted by the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the multibillion-peso controversy.
- Latest
- Trending
