Witness clears Bong Revilla in ‘pork barrel’ scam

MANILA, Philippines — Marina Sula, who is under the Department of Justice’s witness protection program (WPP), has cleared former senator Ramon Revilla of involvement in the multibillion-peso pork barrel fund scam by disputing the testimony of the government’s star witness Benhur Luy.

During her testimony at the continuation of the trial of the plunder case against Revilla yesterday, Sula told the magistrates of the Sandiganbayan First Division that it was Luy who forged the signatures of Revilla in various endorsement letters, which paved way for the release of the latter’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel to several bogus foundations supposedly owned by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged brains behind the pork scam.

“Si Benhur, siya yung mahusay pumirma ng lawmakers at siya yung nakikita kong pumipirma para sa lawmakers (It was Benhur who used to forge the signatures of lawmakers. He was good at that. I used to see him signing letters on behalf of lawmakers),” Sula said during examination by Revilla’s lawyer Reody Anthony Balisi.

“Wala pong alam si Senator Revilla sa paggawa po ng endorsement letters  (Revilla knew nothing about the preparation of his endorsement letters),” Sula added.

Luy, in his previous testimonies, had admitted that he forged the signatures of Revilla but maintained that he emailed the “draft” endorsement letter to Revilla’s office for the senator’s approval.

Revilla, through his former chief of staff Richard Cambe, is accused of receiving from Napoles P224.5 million in kickbacks or commissions in exchange for the allocation of his PDAF to the latter’s bogus non-government organizations (NGOs).

But during her testimony, Sula said she did not personally see Revilla receiving money from Napoles or from any of Napoles’ aides, including her bodyguard John Raymund de Asis and nephew Ronald Lim.

Sula said she had found inconsistencies with the testimonies of Luy, but she was “coached” by the members of the prosecution panel, especially by then Office the Special Prosecutor director Joefferson Toribio to just corroborate Luy’s sworn affidavit. 

Toribio, who is now a judge in Tarlac, used to head the ombudsman’s prosecution team handling the plunder case against Revilla.

“I was told by the prosecution panel to just corroborate the testimony of Benhur because he was the first one who testified during the bail hearings of Revilla,” Sula said in Filippino. 

“Toribio said my testimony should not be in conflict with what Luy said, that the letters were first being sent through email to Revilla. The truth was, the letters were never emailed. The documents were being prepared in the office,” Sula added, referring to the JLN Corp. office.

Both Sula and Luy were former employees of Napoles’ JLN Corporation.